NCAA: WNBA success of Rivers, James is benefitting NC State

There have been a few big changes at NC State this summer.

The most headline-grabbing, of course, is that former Vanderbilt standout Khamil Pierre will run with the Wolfpack during the 2025-26 season—a big departure from her former program, and a development head coach Wes Moore described as “a perfect fit” while speaking to reporters on Wednesday.

Pierre’s relationship with NC State isn’t exactly new. She was recruited by the school before enrolling at Vanderbilt, and Moore said she “made it clear” during this year’s transition she “wanted to be at NC State.” Of course, her path getting there is admittedly “unusual,” as he also said. Because Pierre’s exit from Vanderbilt came after the NCAA transfer portal had closed, she had to drop out of Vanderbilt and enroll at NC State without contacting the team ahead of time.

Pierre opted to enlist the help of “a recruiting service in Texas” that reached out to the school after that process was complete. Moore also credited Vanderbilt with assisting with compliance; as he put it, once the school sent over the necessary information, NC State made the final stages of Pierre’s transfer happen.

Adding Pierre to an already dynamic roster is an exciting step forward for NC State, who lost graduating seniors Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers to the Dallas Wings and Connecticut Sun, respectively, in the 2025 WNBA Draft. Having two players get drafted and stay in the league isn’t a bad problem to have, Moore also pointed out. In fact, it may have contributed to the rise in interest in the program.

He pointed to both Pierre and Qadence Samuels as two players who were likely more attracted to NC State due to the WNBA Draft success Rivers (No. 8 overall) and James (No. 12 overall) enjoyed. Moore emphasized:

I’ll say, you know, in Khamil’s case, I think having two players drafted in the first round, with Saniya and Aziaha, it didn’t hurt any because obviously these kids have aspirations of playing at the next level.

The addition of Pierre and Samuels helps boost a roster that many were beginning to question. Pierre ended the 2024-25 season averaging 20.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.0 steals. Samuels didn’t quite boast those numbers, but she has a bright future ahead of her, and the decision to depart UConn for NC State will give her more room to grow.

Moore now enters the season with an 11-player roster, which he said he’s happy with. “For a while there, when we were at nine, I was getting ready to call Elliot [Avent] and see if we could share the Pack Nine brand,” Moore said, a reference to the school’s baseball team. “Luckily, we didn’t have to do that.”