ARLINGTON, Texas — The eighth pick in the WNBA draft comes with certain expectations, but Alissa Pili was aware when she entered the pro league that as a rookie she would have to be a patient newcomer joining a team like the Minnesota Lynx that is made up mostly of experienced players. Cheryl Reeve, who has been in charge since 2010, is led by an experienced head coach.

“She (Utah coach Lynne Roberts) challenged me and pushed me to do my best. I think my breakout seasons, my two seasons at Utah, helped me get into a position where I was considered for the draft and on the WNBA radar,”

— Former Utah star Alissa Pili

So far, the 23-year-old Pili, who played for the Utes from 2022-2024, has appeared in 12 games for the Lynx and averaged 2.3 points per game. “My transition to the W has been pretty smooth, especially because I've been accepted into such a great program,” she said after a recent away game in Dallas. “I have so many resources and the coaches and everything else have been great to me.”

Utah fans remember her two seasons in the Pac-12 fondly – and for good reason. She averaged 20.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the 2022-23 season, a strong performance that earned her the conference's Player of the Year award. She then averaged 21.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists as a senior and started all 34 games for the Utes to end her college career on a high note.

Pili thanks Utah head coach Lynne Roberts for helping her reach her tremendous potential during her two seasons in Salt Lake City and giving her the opportunity to be drafted and play in the W.

“She (Coach Roberts) challenged me and pushed me to do my best. I think my breakout seasons, my two seasons in Utah, helped me get into a position where I was drafted and on the WNBA radar,” Pili said. “I became super friends with everyone there (in Utah during my two years there). Those are relationships that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

In the Twin Cities, she will play under Reeve, who not only won three WNBA titles in addition to her two titles as the league's assistant coach and was named Coach of the Year four times as the league's head coach, but also has considerable experience on the international stage as an assistant coach of the U.S. team and, more recently, as the Stars and Stripes' head coach, making her a central figure at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris later this summer.

Pili believes it's a great opportunity to learn from someone like Reeve, who has such an impressive basketball resume and can offer a lot of wise advice to a rookie like her. “Yeah, it's been great. She's a great person to learn from and be coached by,” she said of Reeve. “I'm super grateful for this opportunity.”

Reeve has coached many rookies during her long and successful career in the W, but one thing in particular stood out to her about this ex-Ute ​​in her first few months as a pro.

“She was great,” Reeve said. “She's a very mature player who knows how to tune out the outside noise that tells her, 'You should play, you should play, you should play.'”

“She understands exactly what her team is. She understands that it all comes down to timing. She has a great college coach who has helped her get some of those messages across,” she continued. “This is a process. This is the beginning of the process of a great professional career. She certainly wants more moments on the court, but I told her that at best she's a No. 4 post play player. That's the reality. You can accelerate growth and we've talked to her about ways to do that, but Pili has matured extremely. I think she's a very good basketball player who has a bright future ahead of her.”

Still, Pili is a rookie on a team full of veterans, and no matter what sport, being the most inexperienced player on a roster usually means one thing — showing your gratitude to the veterans by having to endure some rookie initiation rites. In some sports, that might mean getting meals for flights, snacks or coffee and donuts for shootarounds or practices. This ex-Ute ​​smiled broadly when asked about her duties as a rookie on the Lynx.

“I have to distribute the scouts. Yes, it's not bad at all,” she said.

Pili made her WNBA debut on May 14 in Seattle, playing 10 minutes in her first regular season appearance as a pro. She doesn't think her “Welcome to the W” moment has arrived yet, but it's safe to say this personable ex-Ute ​​is doing her best to act like a sponge, another key trait for any successful rookie, soaking up every bit of knowledge from her experienced coaches and teammates so she can shorten the learning curve for rookies a little bit.

Still, she admits that getting paid to play basketball isn't a bad thing. “It's really cool,” Pili said. “It's a dream come true and I couldn't ask for anything better.”

Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.