Holly Andres for ESPN. She broke the NCAA triple-double record for womens and mens basketball. Furthermore, Ionescu and her team finished as the Northern California Section Division II runner-up team. "Sabrina Ionescu - Forbes 30 Under 30 Profile". All Ionescu: The ultimate guide to Oregon women's basketball star Sabrina Ionescu, Trailblazers: Women coaches discuss their ascension in the men's league, POY: Ionescu is women's college basketball's player of the year, Athletes' futures: NCAA to discuss granting athletes eligibility relief. EUGENE, Ore. Sabrina Ionescu woke not long after dawn in her small apartment, laced up her black Nikes and walked across a deserted street to the looming arena where she had . Id sit there and try and act like I had no idea how to play, and so they had betted money, and then it was game on, Sabrina told ESPNW. With 2.6 seconds left, Sabrina misses the front end of a one-and-one that would have tied and perhaps won the game. 706K followers. Most Popular #24328. She absolutely killed it that game. She is also the Pac-12 Conference all-time leader in assists as well as the only NCAA Division I basketball player to record 2000 points, 1000 assists, and 1000 rebounds in her career. She completed her high school education in Miramonte, California, before attending the University of Oregon in Oregon. She has 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in the third-ranked Ducks' 74-66 win over No. Sabrina has 2 siblings: a twin brother, Edward, who was born 18 minutes after her, and an older brother, Andrei. Eddy: We were together when she made that decision. Basketball Player Born in California #37. She becomes friends with Kobe, who mentors her, and with his daughter Gianna and her Mamba teammates. Ionescus love for the sport started at a young age, as she began playing basketball when she was only three years old. [1] She is the NCAA all-time leader in career triple-doubles, the Pac-12 Conference all-time leader in assists, and the only NCAA Division I basketball player to record 2,000 points, 1,000 assists, and 1,000 rebounds in a career.[2]. We were the best shooting team in the country. She posted a triple-double in the championship game loss to Chaminade with 24 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Sabrina: Coming into college, I never ran a ball screen in my life, and that's what our entire offense was. It was hard. Her elder brother is Andrei Ionescu. Her parents fled Romania during the 1989 revolution and sought political asylum in the U.S., raising Ionescu, her twin brother and older brother in Walnut Creek, California. I definitely loved working with my left hand. According to TMZ Sports, a rookie trading card of Ionescu has officially become the most expensive WNBA trading card in history, selling for $10,800 on Sunday night. Sabrina Ionescu WNBA Stats | Basketball-Reference.com Sabrina Ionescu Pronunciation: \yo-NESS-coo\ Sabrina Ionescu Twitter : sabrina_i20 Instagram: sabrina_i Position: Guard Shoots: Right 5-11 , 165lb (180cm, 74kg) More player info 1x All Star 20 20 SUMMARY Career G 69 PTS 15.0 TRB 6.3 AST 6.1 FG% 40.2 FG3% 33.1 FT% 92.7 eFG% 48.7 PER We would get hungry, we'd want some money. And then we kind of just sat down and discussed what her next plan was. Graves: We had a chance. Eddy recorded an average of 6.0 points per game in his first year in 2016-17, and as a sophomore, he recorded 9.9 points per outing in 2017-18. 1 pick in Friday's WNBA Draft . Parents Ethnicity And Girlfriend. Now, almost a full year later, the 23-year-old New York Liberty superstar thinks she deserves a new rookie . Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Sabrina Elaine Ionescu (born December 6, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The twin brother Edward (Eddy) was born 18 minutes after her. [12] According to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post, Ionescu chose Oregon "because she wanted to be the all-American at Oregon, not just an all-American somewhere else." Hebard: She loves Steph Curry. As a result, she became the youngest player in WNBA history to achieve a triple-double. Just like he saw it in me. Sabrina gets her first collegiate triple-double just seven games into her Oregon career, in a 91-62 victory over San Jose State. It was definitely tough. In a 2019 interview with Ava Wallace of The Washington Post, Ionescu admitted to being a "natural scorer", but said that most of the rest of her skill set came from playing alongside both boys and older girls in her childhood:[7].mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}. 706k Followers, 336 Following, 107 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Sabrina Ionescu (@sabrina_i) sabrina_i. National Signing Day passes, and as the only undeclared player in the McDonald's All American game;, she is named MVP after making seven 3-pointers en route to 25 points and 10 rebounds. The couple recently got engaged on January 20, 2023, and Ionescu even shared a photo from their engagement on her Instagram account. Katrina, Read More Katrina Gorry Partner Clara Markstedt Is A Soccer Player Children and Age RevealedContinue, Aaron Nesmith brother name is Eddie Nesmith. Edited by Sam Nicodemo and Warren Wolcott. Her father, Dan Ionescu, fled communist Romania around the time of the 1989 revolution, seeking political asylum in the United States. Ionescu actually has a twin brother named Eddy who also plays basketball. I do thorough research before writing and am always up-to-date on new technologies. [24][25][26] In the 2019 NCAA Tournament, Ionescu leads the Ducks to their first Final Four appearance after their 8884 victory over Mississippi State. They came here, and they've worked for everything they've gotten and had to work super hard. The Ducks administer a historic walloping, beating the Huskies 74-56 for their worst loss ever at Gampel. Heading into her junior season, Sabrina has 10 triple-doubles in her career. Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu has made a name for herself as one of the best college basketball players. Ionescu leads the Ducks with 15 points and eight rebounds, but the Huskies win 90-52. Sabrina Ionescu makes WNBA single-season history New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu made history Saturday night, becoming the first WNBA player to eclipse 500 points, 200 rebounds and 2.. The New York Liberty guard, 25, shared on Saturday that she and the Las Vegas Raiders center, 31, are set to wed. "It . He hoped that his then-wife, Liliana Blaj, and their son Andrei could join them in a few months, but they were unable to move to the US until 1995. Playing him was not always easy, but I do improve because he's harder to play. His sister, Sabrina, is a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) professional). She responded by recruiting enough girls to enable her school to have a team. Grasu is a former American football player and the Las Vegas Raiders. Earlier that day, she had been a featured speaker at the memorial service for Kobe Bryant, who had become a close personal friend within the previous two years, flying from Los Angeles to the Bay Area immediately after her speech.[2]. Is the twin brother of Duck women's basketball superstar Sabrina Ionescu, who was the 2019 Wooden Award and Wade Trophy winner and holds the NCAA career triple-double record for both men and women . "My Romanian heritage influences my life on a daily basis and is something that I find pride in," she says. With the eight she'll add in her third year in college, she will become the NCAA leader in triple-doubles. I played 1-on-1, collect the money, Slurpees. By 50. Sopak: I'm on the phone with her and she has 19 minutes to notify the WNBA [laughs] if she's going to declare for the draft, and we're seeing things on Twitter that she's going, she's not going, and we're laughing about it because she doesn't know. That same day, Ionescu flies to the Bay Area for a game against Stanford. As a kid, Ionescu was always competitive, playing sports with and against her twin brother Eddy. In a November exhibition game, she has 30 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds to lead the Ducks to a stunning 93-86 victory over the U.S. women's national team, which features her heroes and soon-to-be WNBA peers like Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi. My dad had no idea. Graves: I didn't know who had her ear, quite frankly. During that time, her father's wife was Liliana Blaj, who was living apart from her only husband. Eddy just finished his redshirt junior season at Oregon. And we lost the chance to watch her tear through March like she has torn through the record books. Christie Hemm Klok for ESPN. But you see your parents just going to work every day, working hard. Sabrina logged 15.0 points per game in her career and 17.4 in 2022 through 36 games thus far this season. Growing up, they'd even speak in. They were all riled up, and we got a steal, passed it to Sabrina, and she went up for a layup and the guy intentionally fouled her, just pushed her, two hands, in the back. They make it to the Elite Eight again before falling to eventual champion Notre Dame. I'm torn.". So we decided to build a future together. Sabrina Ionescu selected No. Nick Bosa teaming up with brother Joey would 'break' NFL as pass-rush . Sabrina Elaine Ionescu (born December 6, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Graves: She commands and demands and deserves the respect that she's been given. On the morning of Jan. 26, 2020, the sports world stands still when news breaks that Kobe and Gigi Bryant are among the nine passengers killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Eddy Ionescu, aka Edward 'Vortex' Ionescu, followed the same path as her sister and is a professional basketball player like her sister. Before she was born, her family fled Romania during the communist revolution, and Sabrina and her twin brother Eddy were born in Walnut Creek, California on Dec. 6, 1997. Hroniss Grasu is currently dating his girlfriend Sabrina Ionescu who is most known for having played for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association is the all-time leading scorer in the NCAA and a gold medalist at the FIBA Americas U-16 competition (WNBA). We were always so competitive, and I think it's 'cause we were the same age. 4 UConn, the school for which Gigi hoped to play. Sopak: Even though I didn't know until, I think, eight minutes before the deadline, when you step back and look at it, it was like that was the only thing she was going to do, if you know Sabrina. Eddy: I wasn't too jealous of the people she's met until Steph and Kobe. He just eats, sleeps, loves everything about basketball, which is literally the same thing with her. And she usually delivers. He first played college basketball at City College of San Francisco, per Oregons team site. [10] Ionescu also made a first half buzzer beating shot from half court. And he came, and his voice was shaking because I had like 10 minutes to decide and I hadn't decided. Eddy has since joined Oregons team. At the end of the regular season, she was named Pac-12 Freshmen of the Year and unanimous First Team All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Freshman Team selection. We'd do whatever we could in order to win something. Bryant narrates a Detail episode praising her physicality, court awareness and midrange game. Eddy: We didn't have these crazy expensive trainers, or these really nice exquisite gyms to go to, with the shooting machines and all this. Your email address will not be published. 213,394 likes. Christie Hemm Klok for ESPN. Blog . Also Read:Tyrese Haliburton Sister, Who Are His Siblings? As a freshman at Oregon, she recorded four triple-doubles and was named USBWA National Freshman of the Year. This team is based in Brooklyn and is well-known in the WNBA. I had this poem book, and we had to write poems for an entire year. She set an NCAA triple-double record instead", "Sabrina Ionescu, 'The Franchise,' accepts ALL-USA Girls Basketball Player of the Year trophy", "Miramonte High School standout named Gatorade California Girls Basketball Player of the Year", "ESPN Recruiting Profile of Sabrina Ionescu", "Oregon Ducks' Sabrina Ionescu is ESPNW's player of the week", "Ducks' Sabrina Ionescu, Ruthy Hebard among position award winners", "Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon State's Marie Gulich named ESPN All-Americans", "Oregon vs. Alaska Fairbanks Game Summary November 6, 2018 ESPN", "Buffalo vs. Oregon Game Summary November 18, 2018 ESPN", "espnW on Twitter: "Oregon's @sabrina_i20 messed around and got her 13th career triple-double. Just show the world what we can do a little more. I think that, you know, college, even high school girls, athletes, need to step up and say, "Hey, we deserve this," "Hey, do you see what I'm doing?" [citation needed], Ionescu was the No. The fact he was so angry and so aggressive with that. Sabrina became the first college basketball player to compile 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists the same day she spoke at Kobe and Gianna Bryant's memorial. [35] On February 14, 2020, Ionescu recorded her 1,000th career assist in a game against #7 UCLA and joined Courtney Vandersloot as the only players in NCAA men's and women's basketball history with 2,000 plus points and 1,000 plus assists. After they went 23-14 in 2016-17, Oregon went 33-5 in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Having kids come up to me after the game and just talk to me, wearing my jersey some are shaking and just super excited to meet me is awesome and humbling. We lost nine games while she was in high school. I remember we were neck and neck with this one team. [40] She played her first game with the Liberty on July 25. Months go by. Eddy: It was always kind of on the basketball court when we fought. They upset No. Sabrina is expected to be the No. "It's unfortunate we didn't get to see them in the tournament. For over six years, the family was separated. Sabrina is known for her exceptional skills and accomplishments in college and professional basketball. Sabrina: That's all I talked about. My family has always been there for inspiration to keep pushing and one day become a WNBA player.". On February 26, 2018, Ionescu was named ESPNW's college basketball player of the week. What's next for the prodigious point guard with a penchant for pushing life-altering decisions to the last possible moment? Sabrina Ionescu and her father Dan Ionescu (Source: OregonLive) She played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. The entire time, he had played it off that he was like, "We'll do whatever's best for you," and then was like, "All right, I'm going to go on a walk." Meta. Related Accounts. [3], On November 13, 2016, Ionescu made her collegiate debut for Oregon, recording 11 points in an 8467 win over Lamar. That stuff comes out in you. Major is general social science. It was part introduction and part prophecy. Sabrina makes college visits but doesn't make a decision about which one she'll attend until just before the summer 2016 term begins. I was crying, my family was upset. He has an older brother named Nico, who was a placekicker for Washington State from 2008 to 2010. We print the highest quality ionescu t-shirts on the internet Maybe that's what drives her. Likewise, she attended Miramonte High School in Orinda, California. Everything was fair game. I thought it was, like, freshman duties or something. Sabrina: It was between Oregon and Washington, and I had no idea. Carlos Serrao for ESPN. It was tough being there and it was tough having to play a top-five matchup right after that. It's crazy to see everything come full circle and see how young I was and the dreams that I had and Ionescu also helped lead the Ducks to the Final Four in 2018-19. ', The mind, body and soul of the WWE's Charlotte Flair, Bam Adebayo is the fiercest, best NBA player you don't know. Just like his sister, Eddy also plays college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. I mean, none of us had been in that position. It's the Ducks' first trip to Storrs, where 11 national championship banners hang in the legendary arena. I gained a lot of experience playing on my brothers' 10-foot hoop. I know on one Instagram post she kind of talked about, you know, "I let my basketball do the cooking," or whatever the case. Graves: She takes it to heart. Ionescu started at Oregon the year after Grasu was drafted. Her two brothers were a big help in developing her basketball skills. Graves: She claims that she thought I cried. "There won't be another group like this ever.". What high school did Sabrina Ionescu go to? After just scoring 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting in her first game, Ionescu scored 33 points on 11-of-20 shooting in her second. Photo by Serena Morones . She was born to Romanian-American parents, Dan Lonescu and Liliana Blaj. And he definitely helped me with that, growing up. I just know she doesn't like to lose, and that's, you know, it's her biggest strength, but it's also her biggest weakness. Forward Ruthy Hebard bought into her best friend's mission of changing the culture at Oregon. As Sabrina processes her grief, she dedicates her season and everything that comes next to Kobe. 1 in the WNBA Draft a year later.. That was in May 2020, a time in which she sat atop the basketball world as the NCAA's . Sabrina Ionescu and brother Eddy are born on Dec. 6, 1997, to Romanian immigrant parents in Walnut Creek, California. She was born to proud and supportive parents, Dan Ionescu and Liliana Blaj. 1 seed in the Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament. Sabrina Ionescu Popularity . On November 6, 2018, Ionescu recorded her 11th triple-double in a victory against Alaska-Fairbanks. Stanley, Read More Stanley Wilson Jr Wife Was He Married? His sister, Sabrina, is a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) professional). NBA stars like Steph Curry and Kobe Bryant take notice of Sabrina's game. His vision for others is always bigger than that for themselves. Ruthy Hebard, Sabrina's Oregon teammate and best friend: Right off the bat, she was a leader. I think she kind of wanted to do it at her own pace. More importantly, he didn't just show up in my life and leave -- he stayed. "Not many . . However, these rumors are entirely false, and she is not gay. Young NBA athlete Aaron Nesmiths family, dating life, and, Read More Aaron Nesmith Brother Eddie Nesmith, Parents Girlfriend And InstagramContinue, People are curious about Demetress Bell wife, whether the defensive back has been married or not. Two times Pac-12 Player of the year, finished his collegiate career at the University of Oregon Ducks women's basketball team. Every time I stood up, everyone in unison would be like, "basketball." And then someone told us about a girls club in Orinda [California]. There'd be fights. I went to Stanford. Being able to grow up, have the same friends, play the same sports and do everything together is really fun. I was happy that she pushed back. "She's an unbelievable talent on that team," Curry would go on to say in a Warriors news conference. Not only were they difficult to guard while growing up, but they also, at times, communicated in fluent Romanian, according to The Oregonian. Miramonte goes 119-9 during Sabrina's tenure, and she sets the school record with 2,606 points. Sabrina: It tore me apart. If we ever needed a player, I would just look at Sabrina. She has a twin brother named Eddy who played basketball at City College of San Francisco. Eddy: Sabrina doesn't really like to follow the way regular people do it. It's Oregon's first triple-double since 1988. The Ducks make the NCAA tournament for the first time in 12 years, as a 10-seed. Required fields are marked *. It's her 26th career triple-double, and she makes history as the first college basketball player to compile 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists. But everything comes to a halt when the NCAA announces a complete shutdown of winter and spring championships. Sopak: The biggest challenge she has now is overcoming losing. Ten years ago, Sabrina Ionescu hadn't yet turned the basketball world on its head. Like [laughs], why's she yelling at open gym? She wants to win a national championship. 3 Stanford", "Sabrina Ionescu's career night leads Oregon past Stanford", "Ionescu Breaks Assist Record in Civil War Win, Ducks 76 Beavers 64", "Oregon Ducks women: Ionescu and Hebard reach milestones in lopsided victory", "Gary Payton congratulates Sabrina Ionescu on breaking his Pac-12 all-time assists record", "Sabrina Ionescu Adds Career Milestone in Win vs. UCLA", "Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu Named Honda Sport Award Winner for Basketball", "WNBA mock draft 2019: Predicting all three rounds", "Liberty Select Sabrina Ionescu No. 1 pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft taking place this Friday, April 17. The Ducks had a lot of success with Ionescu too. A lot of the Pac-12 schools, just 'cause I knew I kind of wanted to stay closer to home. That was the only thing he said, and I was like, "All right." It's awesome to be part of a team that has accomplished that. No one spoke. Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu (20) celebrates after a game against Mississippi State during the 2019 NCAA women's tournament. Sabrina: We're built-in best friends. It motivates her to go back and practice more from learning from her mistakes." As a freshman in 201213, she started 14 of 29 games and averaged 13.8 points, 3.9 assists and 3.9 steals per game to help her team to a 273 record and a Northern California Section Division II runner-up finish. When they were kids, the two used to even hustle older men on the basketball court so that they could get money for Slurpees. Yeah, we would just go home, eat, sleep, basketball, repeat. Sabrina Ionescu and brother Eddy are born on Dec. 6, 1997, to Romanian immigrant parents in Walnut Creek, California. They had heard the language at home throughout their lives. Ionescu's Oregon Ducks also won the Pac-12 championship for the first time since 2000. Earlier in the season, Sabrina watched the video her father took of her young self making that Toastmasters speech about her basketball dreams. They own and run the "Greco's New York Pizzeria," a pizza restaurant located on Hollywood Boulevard. . Sabrina is 18 minutes older than Eddy. 336 following. As a fresher in high school, she recorded an average . Hebard: When they came out with the draft, I texted her. Because I think it would have been a really special run," Graves says in a news conference. Sabrina Ionescu's brother Eddy Ionescu is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty. [20] On December 20, 2018, Ionescu recorded her 13th triple-double in a game against Air Force and broke the NCAA triple-double record for both men's and women's basketball. Ionescu left Miramonte with a career winloss record of 1199 and a school-record 2,606 points scored. Lying in her bed, wrapped in her gray blankets, she'll try to meditate. Eddy: Whether she would bust my lip, or I hit her in the nose on accident, or whatever it was, we would absolutely play through the blood. She was an Oregon Ducks basketball player in college. Sabrina: I knew I was doing a little bit of everything, but there were no stats up on the scoreboard. Our dad was the outlet pass, so he didn't stop it for anything. Sabrina Ionescu is the first NCAA player EVER with 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds! Her first language was Romanian, which she used when playing with her brother in basketball games. Sabrina Elaine Ionescu is an American basketball . She received the 2019 John R. Wooden Award and both the 2018 and 2019 Nancy Lieberman Award. Ionescu's role includes assisting with the development of student . how dedicated I was to playing the game. 1 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA draft by the New York Liberty. He noted that attendance at Oregon women's games had dramatically increased during Ionescu's career at the school. Id play P-I-G, collect the money, Slurpees.. If they would see something scary, a dog or something, they would reach at each other's hands, not at our hands as parents. And that fourth quarter, we just didn't shoot the ball well. Parents Ethnicity And Girlfriend, Was Karl Malone Arrested For Rape Allegations? Sabrina Ionescu's brother Eddy Ionescu is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty. Sabrina Ionescu only played two full games before her first WNBA season came to a devastating halt. I think he almost started crying, gave me a hug, everyone was super happy, and then I started school the next day. I was hoping, and I felt like, OK, she's got something to prove and she would like to come back. As the years passed, the game respected her wishes. [47] Ionescu and her Oregon teammates would be named as the US team for the 2018 3x3 World Cup to be held in June in the Philippines. During her first year, she participated in 14 games out of 29 games, scoring 13.8 points, 2.9 steals, and 3.9 assists per game during that season. She brought one of Kobe's books into the locker room, and we all looked at it. Oregon Ducks point guard Sabrina Ionescu sits down with Maria Taylor and opens up about the strong bond she has with her twin brother Eddy Ionescu and her pa. She is also the all-time leader in assists (769), steals (549) and triple-doubles (21). 707K followers. Follow. Edward has also developed into a basketball player who is involved with various national teams. Edward demonstrated his talent through his victories over Utah, Oregon State, and California. Children Age And Net Worth, Joki Octaviano Accident And Cause Of Death How Did He Die? 3 Oregon arrives for the first time at Gampel Pavilion for a matchup against No. Ionescu told Insider she thinks she should be a rookie again this year, but the WNBA disagrees. "Sabrina Ionescu joins Oregon Ducks in part-time role". [30] In a win over then #3 Stanford (8755), Ionescu scored a career high 37 points along with 11 rebounds and 7 assists, and broke Alison Lang's Oregon all-time career scoring record of 2,252 points in the third quarter. If. . Kobe was helping her with that because he saw it in her. After an. According to Ducks coach Kelly Graves, in 2019 Ionescu had "a chance to be a Marcus Mariota, that level of player and an esteemed Oregon Duck when it's all said and done." Speaking of which. I mean, we still called each other every night and he knew all about what I was going through. [1] However, believing that she had "unfinished business" at Oregon, she chose to come back for her senior season. [Laughs] I think she learns a lot from them, which is really cool, and she definitely brings back stuff to share with the team. He and Sabrina stay connected through the Bay Area community and its youth basketball scene. Eddy Ionescu, Sabrina's twin brother, was born just 18 minutes after her in 1997. " (I'm) impressed with her rebounding," Quigley said. Additionally, she was awarded the USBWA National Freshman of the Year presented by the United States Basketball Writers Association.