The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025 ■ 35 A Sudden Departure With her first season at NC State about to begin, Pierre radiates confidence. A member of the SEC's All-Freshman team two years ago and an honorable mention WBCA All-American last season, she knows she's among the top forwards in the nation. And yet, Pierre's two seasons with the Commodores were filled with self-doubt. She was under the impression she'd have a key role right away but ended up seeing only sporadic action in her first 15 col- legiate games. She received 24 minutes in a blowout win over Radford but was on the floor for less than 10 minutes in five games, including just three in a narrow win over Mississippi State in the Com- modores' SEC opener. Later in the year, Pierre's minutes in- creased. She finished the season averaging 8.9 points and 5.3 rebounds in 19.2 min- utes per night, but she still didn't come away from the experience feeling satisfied. " No t to say I was perfect, but I thought I deserved more time," Pierre sa i d . " So, co m e sophomore year, it was personal to me. I made the change to be better, and then seeing what I was able to accomplish without people seeing what I was going through day to day. I was super proud of myself to get through all of that and still perform." Pierre was a key player for the Com- modores as a sophomore. She became a scoring machine, more than doubling her output from the year before. And then it all suddenly ended. Pierre parted ways with Vanderbilt on June 30 — 68 days after the transfer portal window closed. The announcement was brief, just 42 words from Commodores coach Shea Ralph, issued via the team's social media accounts. "Khamil is a great player and I have no doubt she will have success in the future," Ralph said in the statement. "Ultimately, it was determined it would be best for Khamil and our program to go in different directions. We wish her the best of luck." The surprising exit wasn't how Pierre envisioned her time in Nashville coming to a close, a breakup that she called "un- fortunate." In the months since, neither side has elaborated on the reasons for her departure. Once she left the program, Pierre thought about whether she even wanted to continue playing basketball. She knew she had pro potential, but she was stuck in what she called a "dark" time and place. It was her mother, a handful of former Vanderbilt teammates and her religious faith that kept her going. Pierre was de- termined to not disappoint the people who cared about her. "A lot of people are counting on me to be great," she recalled. "I didn't want to give up on them. Even though I had kind of given up on myself, I've always tried to put other people first. Instead of being selfish, I had to do it for them until I could do it for myself again." The Right Fit Pierre didn't begin playing basketball competitively until after she enrolled at Queen Creek (Ariz.) Perry High. Despite that relatively late start — she had fo- cused on soccer until her junior year — she developed into one of the top players in the 2023 class, ranking 63rd nationally according to ESPN. Named the Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior, she finished her high school career with 54 consecutive double-figure perfor- mances, including a pair of 38-point ef- forts. Pierre had hoped that NC State would extend an offer during her recruitment. Longtime coach Wes Moore did show in- terest, but his roster-building process was going in a different direction, and an offer never materialized. "It was my dream school when I started playing basketball," Pierre said. "They're a winning program. They get players to the [WNBA], which is my goal. I had liked Coach Wes back then, and even now." That pre-existing relationship came into play when Pierre was looking for a new school last summer. She had missed the transfer window, so her options were limited. Pierre could redshirt in 2025-26, or she could apply to colleges as a regular transfer student with the intention of joining the basketball team as a walk-on. In addition to NC State, she looked at Michigan State, North Carolina and oth- ers. But the Wolfpack had a clear need for a game-changing forward with Pierre's résumé. That vacancy, coupled with a talented backcourt featuring Jones and junior Zoe Brooks, vaulted NC State to the top of Pierre's list. "That was intriguing to me, to be able to play with a lot more pieces," Pierre said. "They'd had success in the past. Obviously, they lost some people to the league and eligibility, but I felt like they had a solid team with good pieces from top to bottom." Once Pierre was admitted to the uni- versity, she was allowed to reach out to the Wolfpack coaching staff without jeopardizing her el- igibility. It wasn't a drawn-out process. After a few phone calls with Moore and his assistants, Pierre's addition to NC State's roster was a done deal. The timing couldn't have been better for Moore, who had struck out on land- ing a top target via the transfer portal after hosting five prospects — Georgia Tech guard Kara Dunn (now at USC), Maryland forward Allie Kubek (Florida State), St. Peter's forward Fatmata Jan- neh (Texas A&M), Texas forward Ndjaka- lenga Mwenentanda (Vanderbilt) and Florida wing Kylee Kitts (Ohio State). Those players landed elsewhere, mostly due to bigger NIL packages, but Moore can laugh about it now. He described Pierre's late arrival as a "miracle." "I think the good Lord looked down on me and said, 'OK you dumb butt, you totally messed up this portal thing. Here, let me help you out a little bit,'" Moore said with a laugh. "I think pretty quickly, she made it clear that she wanted to be at NC State." Turning Heads There's not a lot that Pierre can't do on the court. She can score, rebound, pass to " She can really score the ball with ease. It's like she's playing on the playground, that's how effortless it looks. I think she's definitely going to take this league by storm." " Guard Zoe Brooks on Pierre