“It just felt so warm”: How a simple wave from Aliyah Boston moved a S.C. girl to tears

COLUMBIA, S.C. — When Donnie Cunningham surprised his 8-year-old daughter Zoey with tickets to the Gamecock women’s basketball home game against Texas A&M, she couldn’t name a single player on the roster.

That changed quickly after she got to the arena.

“By the time halftime came and they were coming through the tunnel, she was such a huge fan,” Donnie Cunningham said. “It didn’t take long at all.”

Donnie told Zoey on the way up that Aliyah Boston was considered one of the top players in the country. Once she saw Aliyah also had cool blue hair, she didn’t need much more convincing on who to root for.

“I just focused on her the whole game,” Zoey said. “And she was a monster at it.”

Boston posted her program-best 10th straight double-double against Texas A&M, but it was what she did after the game that Zoey will never forget.

Zoey and her dad went over to the tunnel to try to get some high-fives from the players walking off the court into the locker room. Donnie decided to pull out his phone and record her reactions.

First, she got a high-five from Saniya Rivers. Zoey turned to her dad with a look of complete shock.

“I told my dad, ‘I am never washing this hand again,'” Zoey said.

Then her hero started to walk down the tunnel. Zoey called out Aliyah Boston’s name, and Boston turned and gave her a quick wave.

The wave lasted maybe two seconds, but the memory of it will stay with Zoey for the rest of her life.

She turned back to her dad and immediately started crying, at which point he stopped recording and went into dad mode.

“When she said hi, that was just so nice, and I felt so good,” Zoey said. “It just felt so warm.”

Donnie posted the video on Twitter, and overnight it became a viral sensation.

When Boston saw the video, she said it was a reminder of how influential her platform is, and how many kids like Zoey look up to her at all times.

“I thought of myself as a role model, but this (video) kind of just got me,” Boston said. “Little kids really look up to you, it’s just a really good moment.”

Boston has emerged as one of the elite playmakers in the country, and has fans all over the nation cheering her on.

She can add an 8-year-old girl from Summerville, S.C. to that list of fans.

“I think it was just really cool for her to see that, if she wanted to be that person, she could be that person,” Donnie Cunningham said.