ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Pili family of Anchorage has been prominent across a number of sports for quite some time.

But right now, Pili Power is stronger than ever. Older brother Brandon is in his second season in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, sister Alissa is in the WNBA Finals, while younger brother Cayden is a star quarterback for their alma mater, Dimond High School.

Brandon, 25, has paved the way for his siblings. Born in Barrow and raised in Anchorage, he played football at Dimond High for three years and one game before relocating to Portland, Oregon, for more exposure with college recruits.

The move paid off, with the now 6-foot-3, 320-pound defensive lineman earning a scholarship to the University of Southern California, where he played 52 career games for the Trojans.

Undrafted in 2023, Pili worked his way through the Miami Dolphins practice squad and is now in his second season in the NFL, joining an exclusive club of just over a dozen Alaskans to play at the highest level in the sport.

”If you got a dream ... then you got to stick to it,” Brandon said of making it from Alaska to the NFL. “You got to make sacrifices. Sometimes you can’t always go out partying with friends, you got to stay home and maybe watch a little film or see how you can get better. Just little, small things along the line that separate yourself.”

The Dolphins had a bye in Week 6, allowing Brandon to return home to watch his little brother ball out in person.

In the first-round playoff matchup, Cayden accumulated over 300 total yards while leading the undefeated Lynx to their first playoff win since 2015, when Brandon was with the team.

During the regular season, the junior quarterback threw for 15 touchdowns and over 1,400 yards while rushing for 580 yards and 14 touchdowns. Altogether, Cayden boasted a stat line of nearly 2,000 yards of offense and 29 touchdowns.

”I’m not surprised,” Brandon said of Cayden’s performance on the field. “I’ve been watching him since he was a little kid at 4 or 5 years old, already got six pack and was doing handstands around the field while I practiced.

“I told people from the jump, I think Cayden might be — he’s probably the best athlete in the family,” he added.

Which is saying a lot, because Alissa is a baller too. When she played her final high school game, she finished as Alaska’s all-time leading scorer and was a three-time Gatorade Player of the Year. Following in Brandon’s footsteps, Alissa went to USC before transferring to Utah, where she was named Pac-12 Player of the Year before being selected No. 8 overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft to the Minnesota Lynx.

Despite strong performances in her rookie season, including a 20-point outburst , Alissa has seen little playing time on a talented Lynx roster that has found themselves in the WNBA Finals against the New York Liberty.

“I’d say probably as early as, like, sixth, seventh grade,” Brandon said of recognizing Alissa’s talent. “She was doing AAU, traveling around, playing against ranked girls out of the state. She played football with me and I know she’s not a regular girl — she’s strong.”

One NFL player, one WNBA player and one prep player well on his way to stardom, all from one household in Alaska.

“It’s never a dull moment when you got a bunch of brothers and sisters, you never get bored,” Brandon said. “You do fight a lot, argue a lot, but that comes with it. But at the end of the day, there’s nobody closer to me than my siblings and my family.”

”I know we’re close, but we’re competitive. We like to compete with everything, everything we do,” Brandon added. “We hate to lose. Somebody loses they throw a little fit here and there but everybody trains to win in the house.”

It’s a busy weekend for the Pili family.

Alissa and the Lynx have Game 4 of the WNBA Finals on Friday, Cayden looks to lead Dimond to the state championship game when they face Bartlett in the semifinals on Saturday, while Brandon and the Dolphins take on the Colts on Sunday.