“It definitely wasn’t an easy decision”: KiKi Iriafen discusses her USC transfer decision for 2024-25 season
Kiki Iriafen, a Los Angeles native, is returning home to complete her college basketball career at USC after playing three seasons at Stanford. She helped the Cardinal win the Pac-12 regular season title and reach the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament before deciding to transfer.
Iriafen, the Pac-12's Most Improved Player last season, recently appeared on the 'Sometimes I Hoop' podcast, hosted by Haley Jones, an Atlanta Dream guard and former Stanford standout.
During the episode, KiKi Iriafen discussed her transfer and revealed her motivation to enter the transfer portal, citing a desire to be closer to her family and the chance to play a more prominent role at USC.
"It definitely wasn't an easy decision. It's something that I went back and forth on after our last game," KiKi said.
"I think a big fact was, yes, I got my degree but I'm the oldest child, I wanna be able to come home, play in front of my family. I'm from Los Angeles so, just my whole village that helped me get to where I'm at, for them to be able to come and see me play, that's super huge," she added.
"With the athlete part, I'm preparing myself to become a pro so that I can have a seamless transition to the W[NBA] and I felt like USC had the tools in place."
The Trojans fans are excited to see the link-up between two of the top players in the nation, KiKi Iriafen and rising sophomore JuJu Watkins.
KiKi Iriafen praises her teammate JuJu Watkins' dedication
USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb added several new faces to the roster for the upcoming season and while most of them were freshmen, they also landed KiKi Iriafen from Stanford. Iriafen was all praise for Watkins in an interview on Oct. 3.
"I think she [Watkins] leads by example," Kiki told CBS Sports. "So, whatever she asks of her teammates, she's making sure that she does it herself and then outside of basketball.
"I think she's just super fun, super goofy, like, she's still just a kid. So it's been great to connect with her a lot this summer." [0:36]
Iriafen averaged 19.4 points, 11 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game last season at Stanford, earning the Katrina McClain Award and All-Pac-12 Team selection.
On the other hand, Watkins, a freshman wing who came in as the No. 1 player in the 2023 class, averaged 27.1 ppg and 7.3 rpg. She also broke the record for the most points scored in NCAA Division I history by a freshman.