Alissa Pili and 5 impact transfers who prospered in the portal

With 1,800 players having entered the portal in 2023 and a little less than half not finding a new home, it's intimidating to think that the future of women's college basketball isn't as stable as it seems. The portal's impact on the game is still up for discussion, but there are still many players who not only land a new program but flourish in it.

From Saniya Rivers to Dyaisha Fair, many players prospered after making that move into the portal this year. Here are five players who found the most prosperity after leaping to another program.

(Sidenote: you may be wondering why there are no LSU players on this list ... that's because they deserve a completely separate article of their own on their transfer portal comeuppance)

1. Alissa Pili, from USC to Utah

The Pride of Alaska, Alissa Pili, had high expectations out of the gate. She had accolades, records, and skills to make her a perfect fit in the Power Five circuit. Her strength and headstrong mentality in the post make for a great addition to any roster. So when she was offered a spot at one of the women’s hoops powerhouses, it sounded like a perfect fit. 

Pili hit the ground running at USC, earning a Pac-12 Freshman of the Year nod, following a halted season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Anchorage native returned as a sophomore with 11 points and nearly four rebounds per game. However, Pili and the Women of Troy could not gather themselves, posting back-to-back under .500 seasons.

But an opportunity emerged in the form of the brand spanking new transfer portal, giving her a new shot at hoops. Since her arrival in Salt Lake City, Pili found a new love for the game which she described to the Salt Lake Tribune. Hitting the ground running in the 2022-23 season with Utah, her points per game skyrocketed after transferring. She went from 7.8 in her last season as a Trojan to 20.7 as a Ute. 

Entering her senior year, she is continuing her run with a 21-point per-game campaign, ranked sixth in the nation in scoring. With two career-high 37-point games versus USC and South Carolina, Pili has all the momentum, leading her team to an AP Top 25 ranking.

2. Mia Moore, from Mississippi State to UAB

You probably seen a tweet or maybe a few regarding the prowess of Mia Moore. Being ranked in the top 100 in her class according to Prospects Nation and given a scouting grade of 90 by ESPN, Moore is a shifty playmaking guard unafraid to get her hands dirty anywhere on the court. She was a great fit for a Mississippi State squad that lost four guards to the portal after a 15-14 season. 

After taking a redshirt season due to injury, partnered with limited minutes, Moore entered the portal in hopes of finding a better opportunity … and boy did she find one. With her first season at UAB, Moore makes for a great tag team with fellow Georgia native Denim DeShields. The two prove to be a quick-thinking, high-IQ backcourt eager to score always and often.

In her Blazer debut, Moore posted 27 points against Alabama A&M … a great foreshadowing act for what was to come. Since then, she’s posted five 20-point games and nine double-doubles in the Green and Gold, averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds per game… as a 5-foot-6 guard.

It’s been a full 180 for Moore, who went from a season-high four minutes to a conference statistical leader in four categories and a Becky Hammon Player of the Year Watchlist nominee. With the addition of the Bulldog-turned-Blazer, the Southside Dragons tote a 13-4 record overall and a 4-1 record in conference play. With a few more weeks left before the postseason, Mia Moore’s first year as a transfer is shaping up swimmingly.

3. Zaay Green, from Tennessee to Texas A&M to UAPB

Like Mia Moore, Zaay Green started at a Power Five school before finding new beginnings in the portal. Historically Black Colleges and Universities are mistakenly seen and interpreted as a step-down or a stepping stone, and not in between. Despite this, Green has been able to step up and prosper at her new home in Pine Bluff, Ark for the UAPB Lions.

Green had high expectations, being rated a five-star out of the famed Duncanville High School in Texas. Green’s high school resume was well documented, dotted with accolades, state and nationwide.

A successful debut at Tennessee was disrupted by injury, halting her momentum the following season. She made another stop at Texas A&M before making the move to Arkansas. After a successful first season with UAPB in 2021, Green entered the year averaging 15.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. She built on what she established entering her graduate year, averaging 17.5 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists as of Jan. 20.

Green and the Lions gained notoriety when she and the team traveled to Arkansas where she posted a 21-point, 3-steal game in the team’s victory over the P5 institution. Second in the country in triple-doubles, Green is a testament that talent will shine, no matter what school play for. 

4. Dyaisha Fair, from Buffalo to Syracuse

Syracuse is having a successful start to their year, thanks to a notable transfer who joined the roster just a season prior. Dyaisha Fair came from a successful start at her prior school, Buffalo. Like Pili, Fair had an immediate impact, playing a significant amount of minutes, tallying 22 points a game, and racking up multiple accolades come the postseason.

The MAC found her prescient court awareness enough to earn her a MAC Freshman of the Year nod in 2019-20. Like how she glides past defenders in transition, she quickly built upon her foundation, being the fastest in program history to reach 1,000 career points the following season. 

Fair averaged over 20 points a game, with 24 and 23 in the following seasons. However, Buffalo no longer served her, so she hopped in the portal to join her coach, Felisha Legette-Jack, at Syracuse. It was as if she didn’t skip a beat, still averaging 19.9 per game in her first year with the Orange. 

This season, the Becky Hammon POTY semifinalist is not only consistently playing at the intensity she played at before she arrived at Syracuse, but she has no intention of slowing down. Just a week ago, she became one of less than 20 players to reach 3,000 career points, placing her in the upper echelon of scorers in DI discussion. If she declares for WNBA, her resume is well-tailored for any team to pick her up immediately.

5. Saniya Rivers, from South Carolina to NC State

When it comes to things that work, Saniya Rivers and NC State make sense. From a personal standpoint, it was exciting to see what would happen when the No. 3 player in the country joined an already star-studded recruiting class for South Carolina in 2021. A McDonald's All-American, Naismith All-American, and Gatorade National Player of the Year, Rivers was joining what would eventually become a National Championship Gamecock team under the tutelage of Dawn Staley.

Despite the success as a team, Rivers didn’t see many minutes, playing less than 20 per game in her first year. Come June of her rising sophomore year, she entered the portal and returned to her home state of North Carolina to represent the Wolfpack … and as I mentioned earlier, it just made sense. We got to see her flourish as a mid-to-long-range shooter with her talent of lane-splitting to the bucket.

It was as if she was always the right fit at NC State, one of the many institutions that offered Rivers at the beginning of her recruiting process. She increased not only her minutes but also her field goal and free throw percentage and put two shiny double-doubles already this season. With plenty of conference play left, I envision Rivers continuing the momentum to prop herself and NC State up for an exciting postseason run.