USC Projan Kiki Iriafen continues to add to early WNBA Rookie of the Year campaign

Awards should not exclusively come down to who has the best stats. Although former USC forward Kiki Iriafen shines in that department as well. Instead, the spirit of what each individual award is supposed to encompass needs to be embodied in the eventual winner for any recognition.

In terms of the Rookie of the Year, simply going to the top of who averaged the most points and/or rebounds cannot be the end-all-be-all. A ROY should be someone whose play forces commentators to drop 'for a rookie' when discussing their play.

The essence of what that recognition says of a first-year player is that of all of the newcomers, it is they who have separated from that year's draft class and have already established themselves, playing beyond their years and like a veteran already.

As mentioned, Iriafen also has the numbers to this point in the WNBA season. She is averaging 13.8 points per game and 11.2 rebounds per contest.

More importantly, the Washington Mystics are able to trust her defensively against what has been an impressive list of frontcourt matchups. The team also runs sets through Iriafen on offense in the half-court setting, an element they will frequently turn to.

Strong start for former USC F on young team

Iriafen's play becomes that much more impressive when considering how young this Washington team is overall. She is playing a prominent role, and this corps is playing well, now sitting at 3-3 after Wednesday's win over the Indiana Fever. For a team that earned 14 victories in all of 2024, so far, they are ahead of schedule.

Having talent and skills is always nice to have. Iriafen also combines those aspects that she has worked on and developed with a constant high-level output that sees her outcompeting her opponents. It is the type of effort that saw her go on a personal 4-0 run to help seal the game against Indiana that already separates her, not only from fellow rookies, but from her WNBA counterparts as well.