SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 15, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — University of Utah star Alissa Pili was selected No. 8 overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2024 WNBA Draft on Monday in Brooklyn, New York.
Pili, a 6-foot-2 forward from Anchorage, Alaska, spent three seasons at USC before transferring to Utah and having a breakout season in 2023-23 for the Runnin’ Utes.
Pili is the seventh Utah athlete to be drafted into the WNBA and the second highest overall selection in school history. She was among the 15 players invited to the WNBA Draft in Brooklyn and attended the event with her family.
“My family is everything to me,” she told ESPN’s Holly Rowe after her name was announced. “They helped me get here. Without them, I wouldn’t be standing up on that stage. I owe everything to them.”
Pili was a popular player in women’s college basketball, earning a national following as a Samoan-American athlete.
“A lot of Indigenous and Polynesian girls don’t get to see that role model, and I’m just so blessed to be in the position that I can be that for them,” she said.
Pili paid tribute to her Indigenous and Polynesian heritage in her attire at the draft, showing off a tribal-themed dress on the orange carpet.
“I’m just representing them with pride,” she said. “I had to include the tribal in my dress. [With] everything it took to get here, their support just pushed me through and really [helped] me get to this stage.”
Pili said she believes she can step in and help the Lynx with her “physicality and versatility.”
“I’m willing to do whatever a team needs me to, so I’m excited to just learn and grow from that,” she said.
Pili led the Pac-12 Conference in scoring (20.7 points per game) and field goal percentage (59%) as a junior and was an Associated Press All-America Second Team selection. She also swept the Pac-12 Player of the Year and Most Improved Player awards that season.
Pili followed that up with a stellar senior season, ranking second in the Pac-12 in scoring with 21.2 points per game while shooting 55% from the floor. She wrapped up her collegiate career with 2,130 points, scoring 30 or more points in five games as a senior and 20 games with 20 or more points.
As expected, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark was selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever.
Clark, a 6-foot guard, averaged 31.6 points, 8.9 assists and 7.4 rebounds for the Hawkeyes last season. She ended her collegiate basketball career as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I.
Stanford forward and Pac-12 Player of the Year Cameron Brink was selected second by the Los Angeles Sparks, followed by South Carolina center and the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player Kamilla Cardoso, who was picked third by the Chicago Sky.
The Sparks made Tennessee forward Rickea Jackson the No. 4 overall pick with their second selection in the draft, and the Dallas Wings rounded out the top five by selecting Ohio State guard Jacy Sheldon.
Also selected in the first round were: 6. Connecticut forward Aaliyah Edwards (Washington Mystics); 7. LSU forward Angel Reese (Chicago Sky); 8. Pili (Minnesota Lynx); 9. French shooting guard Carla Leite (Dallas Wings); 10. French point guard Lelia Lacan (Connecticut Sun); 11. Ole Miss guard Marquesha Davis (New York Liberty); and 12. Australian forward/center Nyadiew Puoch.
Utah women’s basketball WNBA Draft history
- 2024: Alissa Pili (First round, No. 8, Minnesota Lynx)
- 2019: Megan Huff (Third round, No. 26, New York Liberty)
- 2014: Michelle Plouffe (Second round, No. 19, Seattle Storm)
- 2009: Morgan Warburton (Third round, No. 33, Sacramento Monarchs)
- 2008: Leilani Mitchell (Second round, No. 25, Phoenix Mercury)
- 2006: Shona Thorburn (First round, No. 7, Minnesota Lynx)
- 2006: Kim Smith (First round, No. 13, Sacramento Monarchs)
