Alissa Pili

Alissa Katelina Pili (born June 8, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Utah Utes and USC Trojans.

Early life

Pili was born in Anchorage, Alaska, to Heather and Billy Pili and is of Samoan and Inupiaq descent.

She played football as a lineman from third to eighth grade as the only girl in her league and started playing organized basketball at age eight.

High school

Pili attended Dimond High School in Anchorage. As a freshman, Pili helped her team to a runner-up finish at the Class 4A state tournament. She led Dimond to two state championships, set the Class 4A all-time scoring record and was a three-time Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year. Pili won 13 state titles across all sports at Dimond, including four in volleyball, four in shot put, two in discus and one in wrestling. In her final two years of high school, she was named MaxPreps Female High School Athlete of the Year for her success in multiple sports, joining Missy Franklin as the only two-time recipients of the award. Rated a five-star recruit by ESPN, she committed to playing college basketball for USC.

College career

USC Trojans

Pili entered her freshman season at USC as the team's starting forward. On February 23, 2020, she recorded a career-high 32 points and 12 rebounds in a 66–60 win over Washington State. As a freshman, Pili averaged 16.3 points and eight rebounds per game, and was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year while making the All-Pac-12 Team. She missed the first 10 games of her sophomore season with an ankle injury. Pili averaged 11 points and 3.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore, earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention. In her junior season, she averaged 7.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, before entering the transfer portal.

Utah Utes

For her fourth year of college eligibility, Pili transferred to Utah for the 2023-24 season. Pili was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and earned All-Pac-12 honors after leading her team to a share of the conference regular season title. She was a second-team All-American selection by the Associated Press and the United States Basketball Writers Association, and made the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Coaches' All-America team. In her first season at Utah, she averaged 20.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Utah received an at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA tournament and reached the second round. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said of Pili's 37-point game, "We can't stop her," after the Gamecocks beat the Utes in their December 10, 2023, Hall of Fame showcase game.

WNBA career

Pili was selected as the eighth pick of the 2024 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx welcomed Pili to the team with an event introducing her to local members of Indigenous and Polynesian communities, including the Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan and former Vikings player Esera Tuaolo.

In the 2024 preseason, Pili scored 10 points with 2 assists and 3 rebounds in the Lynx game on May 8, 2024, against the Washington Mystics.

Pili made her WNBA debut in the Lynx game against the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena on May 14, 2024. She played 10 minutes and had one rebound. In her second WNBA game, also against the Seattle Storm, on May 17, 2024, at Target Center, she scored her first points in the league, playing 9 minutes and bringing in 5 points and 2 rebounds.

Pili became the 10th WNBA rookie to score "20+pts while shooting perfect from deep with 4 or more 3’s" in the May 31, 2024, Lynx "Native American heritage night" game against the Phoenix Mercury. In playing just over 15 minutes of the game off the bench, Pili put up 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. She is also only the 4th WNBA rookie to score "20+ PTS and 4+ 3PM shooting 75+% from the field and perfect from three" and the only one of those four to do so coming off the bench.

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

College

Business interests

On June 7, 2024, Nike announced that Pili signed an endorsement deal with the company for its N7 collection that has an Indigenous focus. Proceeds from items in the collection benefit the N7 Fund "to provide sport and physical activity programming to kids in Native American and Aboriginal communities."

Personal life

In addition to her athletic success, Pili's Samoan and Indigenous heritage has made her a role model for others. Since college, she has attracted people with Samoan and Indigenous backgrounds to her games. Her mother, Heather Pili, said "It gives a lot of hope to all of the natives in America. It’s amazing to see. It’s hard to describe being in that environment and seeing the crowds that she’s drawing. It’s pretty emotional.” For the WNBA draft, Pili worked with designer Jason Vu on a dress that showcased her Samoan culture. The dress used Samoan designs on the skirt, which had a slit to highlight the tribal tattoos on her right leg. The dress also was one shouldered to also highlight the tribal tattoos on her left shoulder. During the draft, Pili was quoted as saying, "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 to be that for them...I’m representing them with pride, I had to include the tribal in my dress." More than 100 people of Samoan heritage attended Pili's first home game playing for the Minnesota Lynx to show their support for her.

Her older brother, Brandon, played football for USC as a defensive lineman, and currently plays for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League.

References

External links

• WNBA player page
• Alissa Pili's personal web site
• USC Trojans bio
• Utah Utes bio