It’s tough to think about Oregon Women’s Basketball, or Oregon Basketball altogether, or even University of Oregon sports, without Sabrina Ionescu coming to mind.
Before she arrived on campus, Women’s Basketball was somewhat of a side note to Men’s, who were under the tutelage of Dana Altman and had reeled off four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, two of which went into the second weekend.
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But as a true freshman it was obvious something special was brewing with Ionescu, especially in March. She led Oregon on a crazy run to the Elite Eight, an unheard of feat for UO Women’s Basketball.
Ionescu was not only all-conference first team and conference Freshman of the Year, she was the National Freshman of the Year.
With four triple doubles, she was already first in the category in UO history…as a Freshman.
She followed that up by setting the UO single-season record for points and assists as a Sophomore, while also becoming the all-time NCAA career triple double leader after just 48 games played.
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By this point, Women’s Basketball had become the toast of the town, and the national media was beginning to pay more and more attention.
As a Junior she led Oregon to their first ever Women’s Final Four and at this point all home games were filled to the brim and fans lined up in throngs afterward with the hopes of nabbing autographs, a scene that would have been nearly unimaginable only a few years prior.
After a Senior season in which there became zero doubt that Ionescu would be the No.1 pick in the WNBA draft and which Oregon compiled perhaps the most historic basketball season in school history, she and the team were cruelly denied the chance to play for a national championship due to the pandemic striking.
Here’s just a few of the accolades she left behind:
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First player (female or male) in NCAA history with 2,000 career points (2,562), 1,000 career rebounds (1,040) and 1,000 career assists (1,091).
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Only the second player in NCAA history (female or male) with 2,000+ points and 1,000+ assists, joining Courtney Vandersloot (Gonzaga).
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NCAA all-time leader (women’s and men’s) with 26 career triple-doubles; previous record was 12 by Kyle Collinsworth (BYU, 2012-16).
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NCAA single-season record eight triple-doubles in both 2018-19 and 2019-20.
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Finished career at No. 4 on NCAA women’s all-time assists list.
Playing for the New York Liberty, Ionescu quickly helped turn the team from a bottom-feeder into a contender, launching her own signature shoe through Nike in the process, which remains one of their best sellers amongst women and men.
Corralling a WNBA world title in 2024 and along with players like Caitlin Clark and Aja Wilson, Ionescu helped boost the WNBA’s mainstream popularity to new heights, even competing in the NBA All-Star festivities in a shootout against the greatest 3-point bomber in history Stephen Curry (she lost by two points).
Despite all this Ionescu has remained a mainstay in the Duck community, making multiple appearances on ESPN’s College Gameday as well as several Women’s and Men’s Basketball games, often alongside her husband, former UO Football great Hroniss Grasu.
Catch a game (basketball, volleyball, etc.) at Matthew Knight Arena and you’ll be likely to still find Ionescu Oregon jerseys in the gift shop. Mind you, she hasn’t played in that jersey in six years now.
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Popularity like that spans generations, and Ionescu was a generational talent.
