Sabrina Ionescu (right) starred at the McDonald’s All American Game. (Photo: Mike DiNovo, USA TODAY Sports)
Sabrina Ionescu promised she was going to wait until the very end to make her college commitment. And she kept her word.
Ionescu, the American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls Basketball Player of the Year, walked into the basketball offices at Oregon on Sunday, signed her name to the financial aid papers and said she was ready to begin summer classes Monday morning after graduating high school last week.
She said would handle the recruiting process her way and if schools didn’t respect her approach, they weren’t on her list for very long. And if her way was different than virtually any other top 5 player in recent memory, so what?
“I said a year ago, I was going to take my time and wait until the end to make a decision and people that pressured me obviously didn’t believe in what I was saying,” she told the Daily Emerald, which broke the news of her commitment.”
Ionescu, ranked as the No. 4 player in the Class of 2016 by ESPNw HoopGurlz, averaged 25.3 points, 8.8 assists, 7.6 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 1.3 blocks a game for Miramonte (Orinda, Calif.). She also was named the MVP of the McDonald’s All-American Game with a record 25 points.
She chose Oregon over Washington after narrowing her options.
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Known as “The Franchise,” Ionescu has an understated personality except on the court.
“I literally just walked up. I didn’t really say anything,” Ionescu told the Daily Emerald of her visit to the Oregon basketball offices. “I pulled out some papers and signed them. I didn’t do it too big. I’m not really that type of person.”
She also is glad the saga of her recruitment is finally over. She joins her twin brother at Oregon, where he will walk on the men’s basketball team.
“I’m ready to take it on,” Ionescu said. “I’m ready to kind of enjoy everything that comes along with being a Duck. I honestly just honored and happy to be a part of a great program. I’m so excited to see what the future holds.
“It’s definitely nice not being asked 60 times a day where I was going to college. Now it’s kind of finally a new chapter is opening.”