USC women’s basketball saw two more Trojans turn pro on Monday night.
Graduate forward Kiki Iriafen and senior center Rayah Marshall were both selected to join the WNBA ranks. Iriafen was selected by the Washington Mystics with the fourth overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, while the Connecticut Sun used the final pick of the second round and 25th overall to draft Marshall.
Iriafen will head out to the D.C. area to make her professional debut, becoming the highest draft selection out of USC since 1997 when the Trojans had the No. 1 and 2 overall picks. After graduating from Stanford in three years and winning three straight Pac-12 regular-season titles and making the Final Four in 2022, Iriafen decided to start a new chapter after former head coach Tara VanDerveer decided to retire following Stanford’s run to the Sweet 16 last season.
Iriafen ultimately decided to come to USC following a breakout 2023-24 season with the Cardinal, where she earned Pac-12 Most Improved Player, to try and help usher the Trojans into the Big Ten. In her lone season in Los Angeles, Iriafen averaged 18.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 rebounds per game. Despite being in the shadow of sophomore superstar guard JuJu Watkins, Iriafen was still a major contributor to the Trojans and was more than capable of taking the lead and being the leading scorer on nights when Watkins struggled with efficiency from the field.
Marshall will also be heading to the East Coast to start her professional career. The former four-star recruit remained committed to the Trojans even after former head coach Mark Trakh retired and USC hired current head coach Lindsay Gottlieb to replace him. A four-year starter, Marshall has seen her role grow, not just in her contributions to the team on the court, but also for how she was a team leader off of it.
In helping USC reach the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season, Marshall averaged 7.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. During the 2024-25 campaign, Marshall surpassed both the 1000-point and 1000-rebound marks, making her the eighth Trojan to accomplish such a feat. Marshall was critical for USC in the paint on both offense and defense this year, as evidenced by her ability to pull down boards and ensure USC’s opponents stayed off the glass.
With their USC careers now behind them, Iriafen and Marshall both turn their attention to their professional debuts. Iriafen and the Mystics open the season by hosting the Atlanta Dream on May 16, while Marshall and the Sun will play their first game of the season two days later against the Mystics, meaning that Marshall’s first WNBA game will come against her former college teammate.
Iriafen and Marshall now have just over a month until they become the latest members of USC women’s basketball to join the professional ranks, but will still have to try and make the roster. Even though former Trojans McKenzie Forbes and Kaitlyn Davis were drafted, Forbes did not end up on the opening-day roster and Davis did not appear in a game last season.
Coming in at No. 4 overall, Iriafen should have no issues making a roster, but Marshall will be the real test.