Alissa Pili: Utah’s Former Sharpshooting Forward, Minnesota’s Future Star

The 2023-24 WNBA season was easily the most viewed in the league’s history. For those who partook in that viewership, you may be crumpling the page (or shaking your screen, however you enjoy this publication) and yelling that this massive increase happened because of the rise of Iowa phenom Caitlin Clark. While Clark is certainly a generational talent, she isn’t the sole reason the league shines as brightly as it does now. Viewership has consistently climbed since 2020, and it wouldn’t require Moneyball-esque insight to predict the WNBA would soon get its day in the sun. The talent pool of women’s ball has widened, meaning many heavy-hitting colleges are no longer facing smooth rides to the NCAA Championship game. Among those is Minnesota Lynx forward Alissa Pili.

“I wanted to be surrounded by people who cared about me, who poured into me and believed in me … That’s why I chose Utah.”

Basketball wasn’t Pili’s first choice, though. “Honestly, I started playing football before basketball. That was my first love,” Pili says of her early athletic years growing up in Anchorage, Alaska. Her passion for competition shines through beyond the sport of basketball and she left her high school achieving 13 state championships spread across basketball, volleyball, shot put, discus and wrestling. When it came time to choose colleges, she elected to go to the University of Southern California where her brother Brandon Pili played football (and now plays for the Seattle Seahawks). “Having my brother there was something that really helped me. It was a great school, just a fun college environment,” she says. “Basketball wise, I really enjoyed playing with the team and making lifelong friends over there.”

Pili’s transfer to the University of Utah also transcended the school’s athletic resources. “When I answered the transfer portal, I was looking for somewhere that I knew was gonna utilize me in the right ways and also support me outside of basketball,” she says. “I wanted to be surrounded by people who cared about me, who poured into me and believed in me … That’s why I chose Utah.” Family and community support are a core element not only to women’s basketball but to Pili herself. As a Samoan and Iñupiat woman, Pili’s heritage and culture are parts of her identity that she continues to honor at every opportunity she gets.

“We have a very talented team, and to even be on this team and make the roster is a huge opportunity.”

Pili’s time at the University of Utah marked one of the best basketball eras the college has ever seen. She averaged 21.1 points, 2.4 assists and 6.6 rebounds per game, all with blistering efficiency, shooting 56% from the field and 41% from the three-point line. At season’s end, Pili had collected a Pac-12 Player of the Year Award and a bid to the NCAA Tournament, a feat that had only happened twice for the college since 2010. This skill and raw talent resulted in being picked eighth overall in the 2024 WNBA draft to one of the most decorated teams in the league’s history which, at the time of writing, is undefeated at 9-0 in the 2025 season. Her rookie season with the Lynx included a 20-point outing against the Phoenix Mercury and supporting the team in winning the league’s first in-season tournament. “Winning Commissioner’s Cup was really fun,” she says. “I was popping the champagne bottles.”

The 2025 season brought new energy to Pili and allowed her to hone her skills at the highest level. “I went into this training camp super confident. I always get butterflies before I do anything that I care about — but I wasn’t nervous, I felt prepared. We have a very talented team, and to even be on this team and make the roster is a huge opportunity,” Pili says. In a league where the talent level on each team goes deep into the bench, playing any minutes on the court is an incredibly valuable opportunity that Pili does the most she can with. It’s undeniable that Pili has already made her mark on this sport, both in Utah and back home in Alaska. It’s only a matter of time before she does the same on the national stage.

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