When the WNBA Draft gets underway on Friday night, one of college basketball’s greatest ever players becomes a pro and she’ll be expected to change her new team’s fortunes almost immediately.
The New York Liberty hold the first overall pick and they’re expected to draft Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu, who is being regarded as one of the best prospects in a very long time.
Nobody has done what Ionescu did in college, ever: She became the first player to record 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists, as well as college basketball’s all-time leader in triple-doubles with 26.
Ionescu has drawn comparisons to Steph Curry for her shooting range and she learned closely from Kobe Bryant, delivering a moving speech at his public memorial. She’s a maestro of the pick-and-roll, crashes the glass as well as any big and has a history of coming through in the clutch.
It’s been a long time since basketball has seen a prospect with transformative potential like Ionescu. Here are five of her best plays from her college career — and we’re sure she’ll only deliver more upon reaching the pros.
Freshman season game-winner
Consider this the intro. Ionescu was an impact player for Oregon from the beginning, and this was one of those moments that put the basketball world on notice. On January 8, 2017, Ionescu recorded the first buzzer-beating game-winner of her career.
The step-back dagger for Oregon’s first ever Final Four berth
Like any college great, Ionescu brought her program to new heights. In her junior season, she led Oregon to an Elite Eight win over No. 1 seed Mississippi State, and she buried the step-back dagger herself with a minute to go to get it done. What was on her mind? “Let me hit this and walk off to the Final Four.” Legend.
Unfortunately, Oregon would lose in their next game to Baylor, the eventual national champs, and citing unfinished business, Ionescu returned for one last college season despite projecting as the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s WNBA Draft. Due to the coronavirus pandemic cancelling this year’s championships, she didn’t get a chance at the ending she wanted.
Yes, she can do it against the pros, too
This is a special Oregon team. Two of Ionescu’s teammates also project as likely top-10 picks in this year’s draft (Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard), and before the season began, Oregon was able to draw Team USA for an exhibition game.
And Oregon really won against the national team. Ionescu battled WNBA all-timers such as Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, finishing with 30 points and none more impressive than this logo triple, right over the contest from Dallas Wings guard Allisha Gray. Yeah, she’s ready for the pros, we think.
Career-high 37 to become Oregon’s all-time leading scorer
Ionescu became the all-time leading scorer in Oregon women’s basketball history in dramatic fashion, dropping a career-high 37 against Stanford. Threes off screens, pull-up threes, step-back threes... The entire bag was on display in this game.
Oh, and of course, she isn’t just a scorer...
First 2K-1K-1K player in college basketball history
Nobody in NCAA Division I basketball, either in the men’s game or the women’s game, has reached the 2K-1K-1K milestone until Ionescu did it this year.
She’s finishing her college career with 2,562 points, 1,091 assists and 1,040 rebounds, and when she recorded Rebound No. 1,000 to make it official — on February 24th (2.24), the same day she spoke at Kobe’s public memorial — it was a moment noticed across the basketball world.
This was also the 26th and final triple-double of her college career, and we’ll note, second place in the NCAA record books belongs to Kyle Collinsworth... with 12 career triple-doubles. Ionescu doubled up history.
