In conjunction with the United States celebrating its 250th birthday this year, USA Today Co. newspapers in Michigan have been looking at some of the top athletes to come out of each region in the state.
Over the coming days, the Lansing State Journal will unveil some of the top athletes to come out of Greater Lansing. We will take a daily look at one of the top 10 male or female athletes from the region. These athletes are determined by more than just high school performance. Accomplishments in college and as a professional were also taken into consideration when determining the area’s best.
The athletes are not ranked in order. Here is a look at our latest female athlete.
Aaliyah Nye
The East Lansing graduate has established herself as one of the top female basketball talents from the region. The 2020 East Lansing graduate was the Miss Basketball runner-up and Division 1 player of the year as a senior.
The success continued collegiately at Illinois and Alabama for Nye, who scored 1,739 points in her college career. Nye twice set the Alabama program record for made 3s in a season, making 108 in 2023-24 and then 109 in 2024-25 en route to becoming the school’s all-time leader in made 3s.
Nye became the second highest WNBA draft pick from the area when she was taken No. 13 overall in 2025 by the Las Vegas Aces. She is one of five players from the area to be selected in the WNBA draft. Nye won a WNBA title with the Aces as a rookie. The second-year pro is now playing with the Atlanta Dream and is closing in on 60 career games played..
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Greater Lansing’s best: Aaliyah Nye went from college star to WNBA pick
Reporting by Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal | USA TODAY Network
