Expansion is set to hit the WNBA over the next few years, but making a roster is currently tough. With only 12 roster spots available among 13 current teams, it’s not uncommon to see draft picks, first-rounders even, struggling to make a team’s final roster. Plenty of talented college basketball players often find themselves on outside looking in. That was almost the case for Alissa Pili until the Los Angeles Sparks scooped her up for the remainder of the season.

Alissa Pili began this season with the Minnesota Lynx, a year after they made her the No. 8 overall pick in the WNBA Draft, and she’ll end the year with the Sparks. The Lynx cut her back in early July, and it wasn’t until early August that the Sparks signed Pili to a 7-day contract.

In the WNBA, players are allowed to sign up to three 7-day contracts before they must either be signed for the remainder of the season or released. Pili signed her maximum of three 7-day contracts before the Sparks made the decision this past weekend to keep her around for the rest of the year.

Whether or not the Sparks originally planned to keep Pili past her 7-day contracts was unknown to her. In fact, she didn’t even know if she was going to continue to be signed each time one of her 7-days expired. For her, it was simply taking it one day at a time.

“Yeah it was pretty much day by day. I never really let that affect the way I approach every day,” Pili told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “I just came in consistent every day and came to get better. Just focused on what I could bring to the team every day that I was here.”

Staying ready and staying focused while essentially on a day to day evaluation is a skill in itself. Nothing has been guaranteed for Pili these past few weeks. There was no guarantee that after the Lynx had cut her, that another team would sign her.

Once the Sparks did sign her, every second mattered. Even if she didn’t get into a game, every moment in practice mattered. Those moments on the bench mattered. The main thing that helped Pili push through and believe that she was good enough to play in the WNBA and good enough to be on this roster was the confidence she had in herself.

“I think just having an unwavering confidence in myself and the work I put in, and just trust in God’s plan. I think just praying about it and talking about it, and surrounding myself with people who are into me,” Pili said. “I think that just helped me kind of stay confident and just stay ready for whenever it is that my name is called. Whenever I get my opportunity. I would say just having that unwavering confidence and belief in myself.”

Alissa Pili, Lynne Roberts reunited with Sparks

When Alissa Pili joined the Sparks, it wasn’t like she was coming into a completely unfamiliar situation. After spending the first three seasons of her college basketball career at USC, Pili transferred to Utah where she would play under Lynne Roberts for two years. Roberts was hired as Sparks head coach back in November.

When Pili was first cut by the Lynx in July, Roberts spoke fondly of her former college player while not yet divulging what the Sparks’ plans were for a roster spot they had open at the time.

“I love her like a kid of my own,” Roberts said of Pili back on July 13. “She’ll end up somewhere, maybe someday I’ll get to coach her again. But this is part of the process in this league unfortunately for young guys. She’s a hell of a player, she really is. She’ll land on her feet.”

And it just so happened that the Sparks would be that ‘somewhere’ that Pili ended up. She had her best college years under Roberts at Utah. She averaged 21.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 56.8 percent from the field, 41.1 percent from the three-point line and 80.9 percent from the free-throw line across two seasons for the Utes.

For Pili, it all boils down to Roberts’ system of uptempo, fast-paced basketball that made Utah one of the top teams in the old Pac-12 during her tenure as head coach.

“I think just how it’s free-flowing. . .her style of play is just fast-paced, moving the ball and just playing team basketball. And I feel like I thrive in that because I feel like I’m a player who is very unselfish,” Pili said. “And the main thing for me is winning. That’s the same thing for our team. I feel like that’s why we’ve done so well and mesh so well with each other. . .everybody has the same goal in mind.”

Since signing with the Sparks, Pili has appeared in only game for the Sparks and it was their loss to the Golden State Valkyries back on Aug. 9. She played a total of three minutes and scored a single point off a free-throw. While playing time has been scarce for Pili both with the Lynx and the Sparks, she’s shown a little bit of what she’s capable of when given longer minutes.

Pili’s career-high of 20 points came against the Phoenix Mercury last season when she played a little over 15 minutes. She shot 7-of-9 from the field including a perfect 4-of-4 from the three-point line. She also added four rebounds and two assists.

Pili is a unique player in that she is a big forward who can impose her will in the paint, but she can also handle the ball and make plays like a guard. She’s an efficient scorer around the basket, but can also step outside and shoot from the perimeter. Her versatility was something that was ingrained in her from when she was a kid growing up.

“I think just growing up, I just played pick-up a lot with my dad and my brothers and my cousins, my uncles, all the guys. So even then from a young age my dad had me playing different positions. Bringing the ball up, shooting outside, being in the post,” Pili said. “So I think just building that over time really helped me to kind of just be whatever a team needs me to be.”

With the regular season winding down, the Sparks are still in the hunt for the postseason. They are a game and half back of the eighth and final playoff spot. Roberts has gone with a strict eight-player rotation, so as the final stretch approaches, it’s unlikely Pili gets any playing time.

But in any case, she’s just trying to be the best teammate she can be while staying grateful for this opportunity in LA.

“I’m just super grateful for the opportunity to be here, and that they wanted me on the team. That just shows me that they see something inside me. Obviously I know Coach Lynne, she believes in me,” Pili said. “I think just for the rest of the season I want to pour into my teammates and pour into the team any way I can. Whether that’s in practice or cheering on the bench, every player on a team has a role whether you’re playing or you’re not playing. So just kind of embracing that and just being whatever the team needs.”