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How Kiki Iriafen Feels Amid Getting Drafted By Mystics

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jay Postrado | Last updated Apr 16, 2025 8:47 AM ET

Pressure usually overtakes a lot of other feelings when someone's name gets called in the WNBA Draft. After a long stint in college, these legends immediately get tested in the fire against the best in the nation. Is this what Kiki Iriafen felt when the Washington Mystics selected her out of the USC Trojans women's basketball program?

Kiki Iriafen was picked fourth overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft. She is set to become one of the replacements for the recently retired Elena Delle Donne as the Mystics hope to rebuild. While many would think that this would be so much pressure coming in, the former USC scoring machine had other things in mind.

Iriafen is actually looking forward to her journey after the WNBA Draft. She posits that this will arguably be the start of something new in her life, via Leigh Nordstrom of WWD.

“I feel like this is the beginning of my adult journey. I know I am an adult, but it doesn’t feel real until I start my job. This is going to be my job, and I have a lot of responsibilities to take care of. So I think once I finally pack up my apartment, it’ll be real," she said.

Prior to joining the Lindsay Gottlieb-led USC squad, she spent three years with the Stanford Cardinals. However, it was with the Trojans where she got a lot of acclaim from making an All-Big-Ten conference team to reaching the Elite Eight in March Madness. Surely, the Mystics have found a keeper in her.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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