Kiki Iriafen Teams Up with JuJu Watkins in the WCBB Transfer Portal and Commits to USC
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that Kiki Iriafen, a former forward for Stanford, committed to USC on Saturday.
After three seasons at Stanford, Iriafen joined the transfer portal on April 12 after raising her scoring average each year.
She will now play with talented guard JuJu Watkins for the Trojans, who made it to the Elite Eight before falling short against UConn. With Iriafen’s pledge, USC solidifies its place among the best women’s collegiate basketball teams, coming off a 29-6 season in 2023–24.
Iriafen, who averaged only 5.5 points per game in her first two years with the team, is coming off a career season at Stanford with Cameron Brink. She averaged 19.4 points and 11.0 rebounds in 27.8 minutes per game with 36 starts in the 2023–24 campaign.
She shot 54.6 percent from the field and recorded her highest-ever free-throw percentage of 77.3. Her efficiency rose in tandem with her scoring.
Iriafen’s first transfer decision was probably influenced by Brink’s 2024 WNBA draft selection to the Los Angeles Sparks and the departure of famous Stanford women’s basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer.
She visited USC on Friday, so it’s safe to say that she wasn’t exactly hiding her interest in the school (h/t Matt Zemek of USA Today).
Given that Watkins just finished an amazing rookie campaign, the Trojans should be among the best teams in the nation going into the 2024–2025 campaign. With 40.1/31.9/85.2 shooting splits, she averaged 27.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, good for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
Throughout USC’s March Madness run, Watkins kept up his impressive play, scoring 27.5 points per night on average over four tournament games.
The freshman’s talent to score was obvious, but the Trojans lacked a clear-cut No. 2 scorer to relieve some of the load on her, so her effectiveness fluctuated from time to time. That shouldn’t be the case any more with Iriafen in the mix.