06/15/2024
Alissa Pili to suit up for WNBAās Minnesota
By U. of Utah Press
NEW YORK CITY ā University of Utah womenās basketball six-foot-two forward Alissa Pili was selected by the Minnesota Lynx with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.Pili, of Anchorage, Alaska and is Inupiaq and Samoan, is the seventh athlete from Utah to be drafted into the WNBA and with eighth being the second highest draft pick in Utah history. She is the second Utah womenās basketball player to be drafted for head coach Lynne Roberts.
āI think just with my physicality and versatility, Iām willing to do whatever team needs me to so Iām excited to learn and grow from that,ā Pili said to ESPN after being drafted.
Pili continued in an emotional interview, shouting out her close family.
āMy family is everything to me, they helped me get here, without them, I wouldnāt be standing up on that stage,ā Pili said. āI owe everything to them.ā
In her senior season at Utah, she led the team in scoring with her 21.4 points per game average, which ranked No. 13 in the NCAA. She broke the school record with most points scored in a single season with 727 points, which was No. 8 in the NCAA this season.
She shot 55.0 percent from the field this year and knocked down 269 field goals. She shot 40.4 percent from beyond the arc and 82.0 percent from the free throw line. She averaged 6.6 rebounds per game and recorded 82 assists.
Pili became the fastest Ute to score 1,000 points in just 48 games. She boasts 1,370 points in just two years at Utah. She breached 2,000 career points this season and pushed her career total to 2,165.
She earned four All-America nods this season. She was named to the AP All-America Third Team and named Third Team All-America by The Athletic as well as made her first appearance on the Sporting News All-America list and her second appearance on the USBWA All-America List.
She was a Top 5 candidate for the Katrina McClain Award and named to the Wooden Award Top 15 Ballot. Pili earned All-Pac-12 honors for the third time in her career.Pili caught national attention early this season after putting up a career-high 37 points against No. 1 South Carolina on Dec. 10. Against the Gamecocks, Pili shot 65.2 percent from the field going 15-23. She went 3-6 from beyond the arc and 4-4 from the free throw line. She also managed two rebounds, one assist and three steals.In 2023, Pili was named Pac-12 Player of the Year. Also in 2023, she was a WBCA All-American and was named an AP and USBWA Second Team All-American. During her freshman year at USC she earned Pac-12 Freshman of the year.Pili is the first Ute to get drafted since 2019 when the New York Liberty drafted Megan Huff. Pili is the second highest overall pick, and second to be drafted to the Lynx. Utahās Shona Thorburn was drafted in 2006 by the Minnesota Lynx in the First Round as the seventh overall pick.Pili was a star at the University of Utah, earning an invite to the WNBA draft. After Piliās name was called April 15, ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo called Pili the most unique player in the draft.
One GM said she is the second best offensive player in this draft to Caitlin Clark,ā she said.Minnesota will be in Seattle May 14 and July 12 for games against the Storm.
The Lynx have won 4 WNBA titles since 2011.
Below--Alissa Pili
