Khamil Pierre stayed at NC State to chase her WNBA dreams

By Noah Fleischman

After NC State fell at Michigan in the NCAA Tournament round of 32 last month, standout forward Khamil Pierre had a decision to make. She could either enter the transfer portal or stay with the Wolfpack for her senior season.

Testing the open market was a clear option for Pierre, who didn’t do so last offseason since she transferred from Vanderbilt after the portal closed and applied to NC State as a normal student before joining the women’s basketball team. This would provide a chance to see where her value stood on the national landscape if she wanted to cash in on a strong junior campaign.

And, after averaging a team-leading 16.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per game with 22 double-doubles, Pierre would have likely been one of the top available players on the market with programs clamoring for her services. But as she sat down with her family to decide what to do next, Pierre was focused on the next decade of her life — not the next 12 months. 

That helped put her options in perspective. Did she truly want to chase the highest bidder elsewhere for short-term gratification, or did she want to put herself in the best position to be a WNBA first-round pick next April to help her long-term career?

The latter won out. Pierre didn’t enter her name in the transfer portal. Instead, she reaffirmed her commitment to NC State and head coach Wes Moore heading into the 2026-27 campaign.

“For me, I really want to get drafted,” Pierre told TheWolfpacker.com in a recent phone interview. “Yeah, I could transfer and go make a lot of money; or I could stay at State and trust in Wes and the staff that they’re going to do the things that they said they’re going to help me do, which is get drafted and be prepared.”

Moore has a track record of helping his players reach their professional aspirations. He has produced seven WNBA Draft picks since arriving at NC State in 2013, including two first rounders in Saniya Rivers (Connecticut Sun, No. 8 overall) and Aziaha James (Dallas Wings, No. 12 overall) in the 2025 iteration of the event.

It’s clear Moore can develop talent, and Pierre wants to add her name to his list of success stories in Raleigh. Playing for the demanding and fiery coach, in her opinion, was the best course of action to fulfill her professional dreams after her experience this past season as a first-team All-ACC selection.

“He knew exactly what he was talking about, he cared for me as a player and a person,” Pierre said. “I don’t think there was ever a time that he took it easy on me. He was always pretty hard. In the moment, it’s frustrating, but looking back on the season, it means a lot.”

In order for Pierre to position herself to be one of the coveted prospects in next year’s WNBA Draft, she’s well aware of what she needs to improve. Pierre, a bluntly honest person, had a laundry list of areas to grow in as she reflected on the past year.

The Phoenix native couldn’t stand her career-most 2.7 turnovers per game or her inconsistent defense in what she described as “a tough season.” Pierre, who was pleased with her career-best 381 total rebounds, is also focused on expanding her game from the block and short corner to be a more well-rounded offensive player in her fourth season of college basketball.

Pierre, with those key topics engrained in her mind, appears to have a laser-focused sense of determination to use this offseason as a launch pad for an All-America-type season next year.

“Just working on changing the narrative for myself and just adding more to my game,” Pierre said. “I think it’s a lot more simple than sometimes the pressure that I put on myself to make it seem. I’m just going to focus on the little things, understanding what I need to work on, the areas I need to grow in, and I think everything will just work out how it’s supposed to.”

While reaching her dreams in a professional career was an integral part of her decision to return to NC State, it wasn’t the only one. Having senior point guard Zoe Brooks by her side once again was just as critical. 

The two played off each other extremely well, and Pierre needed to make sure she knew what she was getting from her floor general. Brooks, the two-time first-team All-ACC selection, made it clear that she’d be back and it helped Pierre’s decision to stay in Raleigh.

“I feel like we play really well together. Throughout my college experience, I’ve played really well in a duo system,” said Pierre, who alluded to the success she found at Vanderbilt with star point guard Mikayla Blakes during her sophomore season. “I think it’s really cool where you can come across great players, but also great teammates to be able to build a relationship with them on and off the court. When it shows on the court, I think that’s pretty cool.”

But no matter where the conversation went with Pierre, it always found its way back to the WNBA Draft. Shaking hands with Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is at the forefront of Pierre’s mind as she is looking to become the seventh first-round pick out of NC State. 

To reach those heights, however, Pierre knows an impressive senior year will be needed. It took her time to adjust at NC State when she arrived later than everyone else on the roster, but now she’s comfortable in Moore’s system. Add in the fact the chemistry with her teammates hit a new gear once the calendar flipped to 2026 following the team’s Christmas break, and Pierre oozes confidence when looking towards next season. 

Another change in environment by entering the transfer portal to go somewhere else would have diminished the immense strides she made in those areas over the past nine months. She didn’t want to waste that progress by chasing an increased paycheck for one season of her career.

For Pierre, a player that has the capability to rewrite the program’s single-season record books once more in the upcoming campaign, there was no reason to look elsewhere. She can accomplish all she set out to do at NC State, learning from Moore’s veteran coaching in the process.

“Wes is a really great coach and I have full faith that he can get me where I need to be,” Pierre said. “That was the most important thing to me.”