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Oregon Declares 'Sabrina Ionescu Day' for Liberty Star's Visit

Sabrina Ionescu will return to Matthew Knight Arena when the New York Liberty visit for an exhibition game.
Geoff Magliocchetti|
Former Oregon Duck Sabrina Ionescu, center, poses for a photo with some recent Oregon basketball players and area children at Matthew Knight Arena after a basketball clinic Sunday.
Former Oregon Duck Sabrina Ionescu, center, poses for a photo with some recent Oregon basketball players and area children at Matthew Knight Arena after a basketball clinic Sunday. | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Before she gets a ring, New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu is getting a holiday.

May 12 will now be known as "Sabrina Ionescu Day" in Eugene, OR, the site of Ionescu's famed collegiate affairs at the University of Oregon. Ionescu and fellow former Duck Nyara Sabally have returned to Eugene with the Liberty to face the Toyota Antelopes, a Japanese club, at UO's basketball home of Matthew Knight Arena on Monday night (10 p.m. ET, WWOR).

Ionescu was heralded by Eugene mayor Kaarin Knudson (herself a former Oregon track star) as the Liberty practiced at the UO facilities and was presented the declaration that forever changed May 12s in Eugene. The point guard also made a quick speech of gratitude at the behest of her teammates.

"I really appreciate this," Ionescu said in video from the Liberty. "I never thought that I would be in a position to have a day named after me, so this is pretty special, to be able to give back to the University of Oregon, this community, that has meant so much to be and allowed me to be where I'm at now in my professional career and give back to the next little Sabrina that's running around here in Eugene."

Before she joined the Liberty as the No. 1 pick of the 2020 WNBA Draft, Ionescu set an NCAA record with 26 triple-doubles as a Duck and brought a massive trophy case with her to Brooklyn.

Alongside Sue Bird and Caitlin Clark, Ionescu is one of three three-time winners of the Nancy Lieberman Award (bestowed to the nation's top female point guard) and is one of seven multi-time winners of the Wade Trophy sent to the game's top player. That latter list includes current Liberty teammate Breanna Stewart, as well as Clark, Lieberman, Seimone Augustus, Brittney Griner, and Maya Moore.

Under Ionescu's watch, the Ducks' women's basketball program reached unprecedented heights, notably reaching its first Final Four in 2019. After COVID-19 restrictions shut down the possibility of a return trip, Ionescu said that a WNBA title would be partly dedicated to the Ducks. Ionescu earned that championship with a five-game win over the Minnesota Lynx in last year's WNBA Finals.

"I feel like if we're going to be able to get it done this year, for me personally, it's all kind of part of the journey and I feel like a little piece of me will kind of be given back to the University of Oregon because I wouldn't be here without what that university has meant to me and how it supported me throughout my career," Ionescu said prior to last year's Finals. "Not being able to get it done [in 2020] kind of has hurt, but it's just motivated me to want to feel that again."

Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.

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