Former Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu named WNBA All-Star reserve
For the second straight season, former Oregon star guard Sabrina Ionescu will be a WNBA All-Star.
On Saturday, the WNBA announced its list of 2023 All-Star reserves. Ionescu, who is in her fourth season with the New York Liberty, is one of 12 reserves.
DeWanna Bonner, Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Cooper, Elena Delle Donne, Allisha Gray, Ezi Magbegor, Kelsey Mitchell, Cheyenne Parker, Kelsey Plum, Alyssa Thomas, and Courtney Vandersloot earned All-Star nods as well.
Last week former Oregon star Satour Sabally was named an All-Star Game starter for the second time in her four-year career.
This season, Ionescu is averaging 15.3 points, 4.7 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 38.2% from the field, including 42.4% from three.
During her four seasons in Eugene, Ionescu put together one of the greatest careers in college basketball history and helped Oregon become a national title contender.
Related: Oregon adds Lisa O’Meara to Ducks’ support staff
A three-time first-team All-American, Ionescu was the national player of the year during her junior and senior seasons. As a junior, she helped the Ducks to their first-ever final-four appearance. As a senior in 2019-20, Ionescu led Oregon to a 31-2 record. The Ducks were heavy favorites to capture their first national title before the pandemic brought a premature end to the season.
In four seasons, Ionescu averaged 18 points, 7.7 assists, and 7.3 rebounds. She is Oregon’s all-time leader in points (2,562), assists (1,091), and 3-pointers (329).
She is the NCAA’s all-time leader — female or male — with 26 career triple-doubles. She also is the only player in NCAA history with at least 2,000 career points, 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 career assists.
Last November, Ionescu was named the director of athletic culture for Kelly Graves’ Oregon staff. Her duties with the program include “helping with the development of student-athletes and cultivating Graves’ five pillars of Oregon women’s basketball: passion, integrity, unity, thankfulness, and servanthood. Additionally, she will be a resource and example for current, former, and future Ducks.”
“There is no better person I could think of for this position than Sabrina,” Graves said of Ionescu last November. “Sabrina exemplifies what it means to be an Oregon Duck and she represents everything our program is about. Even in just a part-time capacity, she will have the ability to make an immediate impact on our student-athletes and our program as a whole. She truly is a basketball icon that will be able to connect and develop our players off the court.”
