In the spiritual world, young mystics are rare. In the WNBA world of 2025, young Mystics will be pervasive and commonplace. Kiki Iriafen is officially headed to the WNBA. On Monday, the Washington Mystics selected Iriafen with the fourth overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft.
Iriafen is the first Trojan to be selected in the first round of the draft since 2004. She is also the highest-drafted USC player since Tina Thompson and Pamela McGee went No. 1 and No. 2 in the league’s inaugural draft in 1997.
After spending the first three years of her college career at Stanford, Iriafen transferred to USC ahead of the 2024-2025 season. In her lone year in Cardinal and Gold, Iriafen averaged 18.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
Iriafen spent the majority of the year as the Trojans’ No. 2 option behind Juju Watkins. After Watkins suffered an ACL injury in the NCAA Tournament, however, Iriafen stepped up and led USC to the Elite Eight.
Now, she will look to help turn around a Mystics team that went 14-26 last season. Since winning the WNBA title in 2019, Washington has not won a playoff game.
The Mystics have a very young core. Franchise icon Elena Delle Donne just retired, leaving behind a team which had three top-six picks in this draft. Sonia Citron and Georgia Amoore joined Iriafen as top-six draft selections. They will be part of a very young Washington rotation which will also include 24-year-old big Shakira Austin and 22-year-old forward Aaliyah Edwards from UConn.
The one older Washington starter in 2025 is 31-year-old point guard Brittney Sykes. Kiki Iriafen will have the benefit of playing with a ballhandler who should be able to give Iriafen lots of high-quality chances to score this season. Iriafen, like all other WNBA draft picks, has just one month to get up to speed with her new team. The WNBA season starts in May. Preparations for the 2025 season will begin very shortly. The education of a professional basketball player has begun and will only accelerate from here.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Washington Mystics will throw Kiki Iriafen into the fire this season
In the spiritual world, young mystics are rare. In the WNBA world of 2025, young Mystics will be pervasive and commonplace. Kiki Iriafen is officially headed to the WNBA. On Monday, the Washington Mystics selected Iriafen with the fourth overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft.
Iriafen is the first Trojan to be selected in the first round of the draft since 2004. She is also the highest-drafted USC player since Tina Thompson and Pamela McGee went No. 1 and No. 2 in the league’s inaugural draft in 1997.
After spending the first three years of her college career at Stanford, Iriafen transferred to USC ahead of the 2024-2025 season. In her lone year in Cardinal and Gold, Iriafen averaged 18.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
Iriafen spent the majority of the year as the Trojans’ No. 2 option behind Juju Watkins. After Watkins suffered an ACL injury in the NCAA Tournament, however, Iriafen stepped up and led USC to the Elite Eight.
Now, she will look to help turn around a Mystics team that went 14-26 last season. Since winning the WNBA title in 2019, Washington has not won a playoff game.
The Mystics have a very young core. Franchise icon Elena Delle Donne just retired, leaving behind a team which had three top-six picks in this draft. Sonia Citron and Georgia Amoore joined Iriafen as top-six draft selections. They will be part of a very young Washington rotation which will also include 24-year-old big Shakira Austin and 22-year-old forward Aaliyah Edwards from UConn.
The one older Washington starter in 2025 is 31-year-old point guard Brittney Sykes. Kiki Iriafen will have the benefit of playing with a ballhandler who should be able to give Iriafen lots of high-quality chances to score this season. Iriafen, like all other WNBA draft picks, has just one month to get up to speed with her new team. The WNBA season starts in May. Preparations for the 2025 season will begin very shortly. The education of a professional basketball player has begun and will only accelerate from here.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Washington Mystics will throw Kiki Iriafen into the fire this season
