MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Lynx selected All-American forward Alissa Pili with their first pick in Monday's WNBA Draft in Brooklyn.
In her senior season at Utah, Pili averaged 21.4 points and 6.6 rebounds — both team highs — and helped lift the Utes to an opening-round victory over South Dakota State in the NCAA Tournament. Pili started her college career with USC before transferring 2022.
"My family is everything to me and they've helped me get here," Pili said in an interview after the Lynx selected her with the eighth overall pick. "Without them, I wouldn't be standing up on that stage. I owe everything to them."
Pili grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and is both Samoan and Iñupiaq, a community of Indigenous Alaskans. Fans have been known to drive hours to see her play and meet her afterward, many of them Polynesian girls who embrace seeing someone who looks like them find such a big stage.
“A lot of Indigenous and Polynesian girls don’t get to see that role model and I am just so blessed I can be in that position for them,” she said.
The Athletic reports that Pili was born about 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle in the northernmost town in America. It’s where Alissa’s mother, Heather, was born and raised. It’s where her father, Billy, moved from Hawaii when he was a teenager. And where Pili lived until she was 7. It was long known as Barrow, but in October 2016, it was changed back to its original Iñupiaq name, Utqiagvik, which is known as a place to gather wild roots.
The town, with a population of just 4,300, experiences 24 hours of daylight in the summer and 24 hours of darkness in the winter.
After selecting Pili 8th overall, the Lynx added Louisville guard Kiki Jefferson in the third round.
The Indiana Fever started the night by drafting Iowa's Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 overall pick. Clark, who just wrapped up a record-setting NCAA career, will now try to revive the Fever, who finished 13-27 a season ago.
However, Clark's arrival to the WNBA will impact much more than Indiana. Clark helped bring millions of fans to the women's game with her signature logo shots and passing ability. The NCAA's all-time scoring leader was a big reason why a record 18.9 million viewers tuned in to the national championship game, which Iowa lost to unbeaten South Carolina.
Earlier this year, the Lynx announced they would retire the jersey of Maya Moore, one of Clark's idols growing up. The retirement ceremony will take place on Aug. 24... when the Lynx host the Fever.
Watch more coverage of Minnesota sports:
Watch the latest reports from the KARE 11 sports team in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.