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Minnesota Lynx Select Alissa Pili With No. 8 Pick in 2024 WNBA Draft

The 6-foot-2 wing starred at the University of Utah, where she was a two-time AP All-American selection and one of the most impressive and efficient scorers in college basketball.

By Mitchell Hansen and Jack Borman
/ new
2024 WNBA Draft Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

A day after trading a spot back in the 2024 WNBA Draft, the Minnesota Lynx made their first pick of the draft Monday night, taking forward Alissa Pili out of Utah with the No. 8 overall selection.

Pili, a 6-foot-2 forward, provides the Lynx with depth in the post alongside Alanna Smith, Dorka Juhász and Napheesa Collier, but also provides Minnesota with a player who can stretch the floor, shoot the ball well from beyond the arc and is a strong distributor to open up opportunities for her teammates. Her ability to hurt teams with her shot from deep is something that will provide a boost to a Lynx squad that struggled from distance a season ago.

Over her career at Utah, the Anchorage, Alaska averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists over 128 games while shooting 51.9% from the field and 34.4% from deep. In her fifth collegiate season in 2023-24, her second year with Utah, Pili had a career year while averaging 21.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.8 blocks over 34 contests, shooting 55% from the field and 40.4% from deep. Pili scored 37 points in a matchup against top-ranked and eventual champion South Carolina, where she dazzled at all three levels of the floor:

Pili earned All PAC-12 Team honors and Third Team All-American honors three times in Salt Lake City, being named PAC-12 Player of the Year in 2023 after leading the conference in scoring and field goal percentage.

Pili was one of the most unique players in college basketball. She was a wildly efficient scorer in her senior year at Utah, where she shot 62.5% on 272 shots at the rim and connected on 40% of her 135 catch-and-shoot 3s.

But her ability to play out of the post will be a major factor, too. Pili averaged 1.23 points per post-up, which ranked in the 97th percentile among all college basketball players, per Synergy Sports. Her footwork is excellent down on the low block, where her rare combination of strength, agility and touch shine. When defenses take away scoring looks, she can also get teammates involved from the post, too.

The Lynx had the eighth-ranked offense last season (99.8 offensive rating) and Pili will bring a boost on that end from Day 1.

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