The Oregon alumna will don the seafoam and black of the New York Liberty next season after a record-breaking career in Eugene.
The New York Liberty have chosen Sabrina Ionescu with the top overall pick of the 2020 WNBA Draft.
Ionescu will bring a historic amount of hardware with her to New York City. The former Oregon Duck is the first player in NCAA history to earn a de facto triple-quadruple: she put over 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists over her four seasons in the Pacific Northwest.
“It’s a historic night for the New York Liberty,†said Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb. “Sabrina is a generational player whose resume speaks for itself and we are thrilled to have her as our first-ever No.1 pick. We look forward to adding her to the Liberty family, as we work to reestablish ourselves as one of the top teams in the league for years to come.â€
“I’m blessed. I think I’ve been working on this for my entire basketball career,” Ionescu said in a conference call shortly after he selection. “Just to see that come to fruition, I’m very humbled and excited for the opportunity.”
Ionescu’s storied collegiate career ended prematurely thanks to the NCAA Tournament’s cancellation. Nonetheless, she will bring numerous trophies and accolades with her to the east coast including three Pac-12 Player of the Year Awards, two John Wooden Awards, and a Naismith Player of the Year Award.
However, the only thing Ionescu was focused on was improving before she made her New York entry.
“I’m looking to do everything that I possibly can to get better in every aspect,” she said. “Whether that’s scoring, defending, rebounding, passing. I’m really just excited to be playing against professionals and learning from them and just seeing where that takes me.”
The Liberty will play their home games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on a full-time basis starting with the 2020 season.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags