After entering the NCAA transfer portal following the retirement of Tara VanDerveer , ex- Stanford forward Kiki Iriafen has confirmed her destination: USC .
She made the announcement to ESPN on Saturday night, a day after Hailey Van Lith confirmed her transfer to TCU .
There had been rumors of the 6-foot-3 Iriafen going to UConn or UCLA. Both schools recruited Iriafen heavily and were on her shortlist out of high school. And she's from Los Angeles, an extra advantage for the latter school, which reached the Sweet 16 last month.
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However, Iriafen elected to join the Trojans to form a college basketball supernova in her hometown. She'll star next to First-Team All-American JuJu Watkins , only a rising sophomore. Watkins, a scintillating backcourt guard prospect, broke the all-time NCAA record for points by a freshman last season, setting the stage for USC to reach its first Final Four since 1984.
Meanwhile, Iriafen finished her time with the Cardinal in style as one of the most improved players in the country. She put up a career-high 41 points in the second round of March Madness to elevate her profile nationally. Iriafen is a projected first-round pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
More fun could be on the way for USC, as Iriafen had hinted at the Trojans as a destination in a TikTok video alongside fellow transfer portal entrant Talia von Oelhoffen, who is leaving Oregon State . The clip captured them dancing in USC gear during an official visit.
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Last season, Iriafen averaged 19.4 points and 11 rebounds per game - massive numbers considering she sometimes played second-fiddle to All-American Cameron Brink . Iriafen spent her first two seasons deferring to Stanford's crop of talented upperclassmen but broke out last season, ultimately finishing second in the Pac-12 among front-court scorers.
The lanky forward committed to the legendary VanDerveer ahead of the 2021 camapaign, who announced her retirement this offseason as the winningest coach in college basketball history. Longtime assistant coach Kate Paye assumed the head coaching role days later and expressed disappointment at Iriafen's decision to enter the portal.
“We are disappointed … but if that’s a choice that she feels like she has to make, we respect it,” Paye said. “She told me that she’s made the decision to enter the portal for personal, family reasons.”
Iriafen entered the portal with a "do not contact" tag, suggesting a small pool of potential suitors. UConn was one of the five finalists in Iriafen's high-school commitments, spurring rumors that the legendary program would once again pursue the premier transfer portal product. UCLA was linked closest with the in-state star.
Her departure from Stanford, along with the exit of Brink to this year's draft, leaves a massive void for the Cardinal, one of the historically great programs in women's college basketball. In addition to roster turnover, the school is changing conferences in 2024-25 from the Pac-12 to ACC.
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