Minnesota Lynx Forward Alissa Pili signs with AU Pro Basketball for 2025 season
Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball has signed WNBA forward Alissa Pili to compete in the 2025 season in Nashville, Tennessee.
Pili was selected with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx.
She averaged 6.3 minutes, 2.4 points, and 1.2 rebounds per game in her rookie season. She made her pro debut on May 14 against the Seattle Storm and had a standout night on May 31 when she put up 20 points, four rebounds, and two assists against the Phoenix Mercury. She did so in just over 15 minutes of play off the bench and was perfect beyond the arc, hitting four treys.
Pili played collegiately at the University of Southern California for three years before transferring to Utah for two seasons. As a Trojan, she saw action in 63 games and made 58 starts. She was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and All-Pac-12 Team as a freshman.
She was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year during her junior season at Utah after leading the conference in scoring and field goal percentage. She led the team to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, pacing the team with 20.7 points per game, which ranked first in the Pac-12 and 16th nationally. She also had 173 total rebounds on the season.
As a senior, Pili played and started in all 34 games and scored 727 points, the most scored in a season in program history. She reached the 2,000 career points mark against UCLA on Feb. 22, 2024. In 2024 she shot 55% percent from the field, 40.4% from the three, and 82% from the free throw line. Pili was named All-Pac-12 First Team, Second Team All-American by The Athletic, and a Third Team All-American by AP, Sporting News, and USBWA.
Pili was a three-time Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year out of Dimond High School. She is from Anchorage, Alaska, and is of Samoan and Iñupiat descent. She signed an endorsement deal with Nike’s N7 brand during her rookie season in the WNBA. N7 is a Nike initiative focused on empowering and celebrating Native American and Indigenous communities through sport.
"It's something I wear with pride and motivates me want to do great things. … If you see one person doing it, it's like all of our people have made it and are successful." @alissa_pili talks about being the second native player in the WNBA and more with @twin1532 #CantTameUs pic.twitter.com/WkFZL9HH5s
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) July 9, 2024
The fourth season of AU Pro Basketball will run from Feb. 5 to March 2, 2025 at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. Group and season ticket deposits are available now.
Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter at Athletes Unlimited. You can follow her on Twitter @savannaecollins.
