By Malia Poblete
The Sporting Tribune
The John R. Wooden Award will celebrate it’s 50th anniversary this season. Leading up to the award ceremony on April 10, 2026, The Sporting Tribune in partnership with the Wooden Award and the Los Angeles Athletic Club will highlight past winners of the Wooden Award and the Legends of Coaching Award.
Before Sabrina Ionescu was surrounded by Oregon’s glorious nature, she had her early roots planted in Walnut Creek, California. Being one of the most decorated prep guards in the country at Miramonte High School, she quickly became the top point guard recruit in her class. Her scoring, playmaking, and leadership led her to commit to Oregon in 2016 where all three of those components helped change the trajectory of the program.
Prior to her arrival, Oregon women’s basketball had never reached the Final Four. By the time she left, the Ducks were a national powerhouse and have remained on an upward trajectory.
Ionescu was the engine behind head coach Kelly Graves’ offense, showing insane rebounding instincts, elite court vision, and leadership that was uncommon for someone just starting out. Her early triple-double flashes signaled what was coming, and in 2017 Oregon went to its first Elite Eight in program history.
“She doesn’t need to score to feed her ego,” Graves said in a post-game interview. “She does whatever it takes to make the team successful.”
In 2018 she became a national centerpiece as the NCAA’s triple-double leader and elevated Oregon to its first Pac-12 title. While Ionescu continued her triple-double record in 2019, the Ducks also reached the Final Four for the first time in program history. Her performance was relentless and included a 30-point outing against Team USA in an exhibition. She cemented her status as a generational college player, and earned her first Wooden Award.
Despite a whole pandemic, Ionescu still ended her time as a duck with one of the most decorated seasons in NCAA history. She became the first player ever – men’s or women’s – to record 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists. She swept all the major national awards, AP Player of the Year, the Wooden Award for the second time, the Honda Award and the Sullivan Award. Oregon was ranked number one and was easily a national title favorite before the NCAA Tournament was canceled.
While her time as a duck came to a close she still continued to spread her wings. Ionescu was selected first overall in the 2020 WNBA draft by the New York Liberty and has remained there ever since. Even with an ankle injury in her rookie season, she returned as one of the league’s most versatile guards.
She became WNBA Champion in 2024, a four-time WNBA All-Star (2022-2025), a four-time All-WNBA Second Team (2022-2025), WNBA Skills Challenge Champion (2022), and a two-time WNBA Three-Point Contest Champion (2023, 2025). She also became the first player in WNBA history to record 500+ points, 200+ rebounds, and 200+ assists in a single season.
Ionescu is a frequent visitor and supporter of the Oregon community. She shared with the Sporting Tribune some advice she carried with her during her college years.
“I think, be where your feet are at and understand how valuable time is,” Ionescu said. “You know, I think when I was there, the seniors were always telling us how fast time goes and how you really just have to enjoy and embrace the university and where you’re at because time flies. You’re kind of young, and you’re like, ‘yeah, yeah, whatever’. And then in the blink of an eye, it gets to your senior year, and you’re done. You kind of wish you could go back and do it all over again. I think that’s something that you kind of carry with you forever, is just understanding, like time is so valuable and you just have to appreciate where you’re at now.”