A system that facilitates antenna selection and pilot reduction in a multi-antenna system is provided. During operation, in response to an activating event, the system performs a full pilot transmission by transmitting pilot signals through all available transmit antennas at a base station. The system then determines the selected subset of transmit antennas by receiving lists of selected antennas from mobile stations associated with preferred users, wherein a given mobile station selects a list of antennas in response to pilot signals received during the full pilot transmission. The system then combines the received lists to produce the selected subset, wherein the selected subset includes all antennas which appear in the received lists of selected antennas. Next, during normal system operation, the system periodically performs a selected pilot transmission by transmitting pilot signals through a selected subset of the available transmit antennas.