USC W Basketball

Former Stanford forward Kiki Iriafen committed to USC on Saturday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Iriafen entered the transfer portal on April 12 after three seasons at Stanford, after having improved her scoring average in each year.

Now, she'll team up with standout guard JuJu Watkins on a Trojans team that advanced to the Elite Eight before a narrow loss to UConn. USC strengthens its status as one of the top teams in women's college basketball with Iriafen's commitment, following a 29-6 record during the 2023-24 season.

Iriafen is coming off a breakout season at Stanford alongside Cameron Brink after averaging just 5.5 points per game in her first two years with the team. In 36 starts during her 2023-24 campaign, she averaged 19.4 points and 11.0 rebounds in 27.8 minutes per game.

Her efficiency increased along with her scoring, as she shot 54.6 percent from the field, while her 77.3 free-throw percentage represented the highest mark of her career.

Iriafen's initial decision to transfer likely resulted from Brink joining the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2024 WNBA draft as well as the retirement of legendary Stanford women's basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer.

Her interest in USC wasn't exactly a secret, as she visited the school on Friday (h/t Matt Zemek of USA Today).

The Trojans should enter the 2024-25 season as one of the top teams in the country, with Watkins coming off an incredible freshman year. She averaged 27.1 points and 7.3 rebounds each night on 40.1/31.9/85.2 shooting splits, winning the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award.

Watkins continued to impress during USC's March Madness run, averaging 27.5 points each night in four tournament games.

While the freshman's scoring ability was evident, her efficiency occasionally fluctuated as the Trojans didn't possess a clear-cut No. 2 scoring option to take some of the pressure off her. With Iriafen in the mix, that should no longer be the case.

USC women's basketball commit Aaliyah Gayles was one of four people shot at a house party in Las Vegas on Saturday night, the school confirmed to Alexa Philippou of ESPN. 

The four people were hospitalized with "survivable gunshot wounds," according to Sam Gordon of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Gayles, currently a senior at Spring Valley High School, underwent two emergency surgeries Sunday morning. 

The 5-star recruit was a McDonald's All-American and is listed as the No. 8 overall player in the 2022 class by ESPNW.

The 5'9" point guard averaged 13.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game during her final high school season.

"Aaliyah is one of the strongest, most resilient young people I have ever known," USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said in a statement to ESPN. "I have no doubt she will continue to face this unfathomable situation with courage and resolve. We will continue to support her and her parents in every way that we possibly can."

Aaliyah's father, Dwight Gayles, also posted about the incident:

According to the North Las Vegas Police Department, a fight broke out during a house party with gunfire being reported at 11:15 p.m. local time. Of the four victims, two were minors.

Gordon reported Gayles, 18, was not targeted in either the head or torso.

An investigation remains ongoing, and the shooter had not been arrested as of Sunday.