Pros and cons of Indiana Fever picking Vanderbilt's Justine Pissott in 2026 WNBA Draft – The Tennessean

Forward Justine Pissott, formerly of Vanderbilt women’s basketball, was selected No. 25 overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2026 WNBA Draft on April 13.
Pissott was a former five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American who originally attended Tennessee, but after one year she transferred to play for Vanderbilt and coach Shea Ralph in 2023. She played for three years with the Commodores and was a key part of their Sweet 16 team in 2026.
She is the first Vanderbilt player drafted since 2014.
Pissott is a ready-made role player who brings excellent 3-point shooting with plus size for a shooter at 6-foot-4. She primarily plays as a stretch-4, and she has a versatile skill set there. She has consistently improved her rebounding and passing, is a catch-and-shoot threat who is long enough to block shots, and she can occasionally post up.
Though she doesn’t project as a WNBA starter, she has skills that the majority of teams can use.
She overcame adversity in her college career following the loss of her grandfather. After playing minimal minutes in her junior season, she broke out as a senior.
Pissott was second in the SEC in 3-point percentage in 2025-26 among players with at least 75 3-point attempts. But she had a much larger sample size than that. She attempted 225 shots from 3-point range, making 95 of them, for a 42.2% 3-point percentage.
She came to Vanderbilt with a reputation as a limited defender, but she has improved, and her 29 blocks were second on the team.
Pissott doesn’t have the ball in her hands often and rarely drives to the rim. She attempted just 17 free throws all season. She did avoid turnovers (she had just 51 to 77 assists) and foul trouble.
In 2025-26, Pissott started all 34 games. She had a 43.7% field-goal percentage overall and a 42.2% 3-point percentage on 225 attempts. She was 13-for-17 on free throws for a 76.5% percentage.
She had 77 assists, 51 turnovers, 29 blocks and 14 steals while averaging 11.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
In her career, she averaged 6.3 points per game, a 38.6% 3-point percentage and a 74.5% free-throw percentage, with a 122-to-113 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X @aria_gerson.

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