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So I just remember, I said, "I'm going to stay." I do thorough research before writing and am always up-to-date on new technologies. She was an Oregon Ducks basketball player in college. Ionescu has been in a relationship with her boyfriend, Hroniss Grasu, for a long time. Sabrina: I remember I was in the front yard with Eddy, and he was like, "My left hand's better than yours." Eddy: The little dirty plays that some basketball players do, tugging on your shorts, whispering in your ear some trash talk, tripping you while you walk by I would just get under Sabrina's skin, just because I didn't feel like she had enough experience with that yet. She finished at Miramonte High School in Orinda, California. Sabrina: Obviously that was tough. 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. 1 pick in the 2020 draft. "Not many . Our dad was the outlet pass, so he didn't stop it for anything. A Big 3 of Jones, Stewart and Ionescu would. She was born to Romanian-American parents, Dan Lonescu and Liliana Blaj. Edward, born on December 6, 1997, is only 18 minutes older than his sister. Fell straight down. From here on out, really, everything's gonna be for him and what he taught me. 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." Posts. People were crying and just so sad. In her senior year, she led Miramonte to the CIF open division title game after averaging 25.3 points, 8.8 assists, 7.6 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. The two started playing basketball together when they were in grade school. 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 . The card a 2020 Panini. Ionescu garnered added attention on Sunday after she clinched her 18 th career triple-double as the Ducks blew out Indiana 91-68 in the NCAA tournament, the culmination of the college basketball . In recent years, basketball phenom Sabrina Ionescu has used her talent to lead the Oregon Ducks and become the face of women's college hoops. Ionescus impressive performances throughout college included one Pac-12 record, two less than the NCAA record, and four triple-doubles. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. With Oregon poised for a No. I applaud her. Watching movies, drawing, and painting are some of my favorite things to do in my leisure time. Sabrina: I took a few unofficials. Sabrina Ionescu's resume is long and exceptional: Two-time Pac-12 Conference player of the year; back-to-back First-Team All-American; National Player of the Year candidate; NCAA career triple-double record holder (18); probable No. She is clearly in a happy relationship with Grasu and is excited to take the next step in their journey together. Ramona Shelburne on why playing for the Clippers is deeper than basketball for Paul George. She needs to be playing on that kind of a stage. I'm torn.". Sabrina Ionescu is an American personality who is a professional basketball player and is committed to the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) playing for the New York Liberty. Ionescu finally committed to Oregon just before the school's 2016 summer term began, driving with her father for 8 hours from their Bay Area home to Eugene, making an unannounced visit to Matthew Knight Arena and telling head coach Kelly Graves that she would join the team. Sabrina is expected to be the No. [50], * 2020 NCAA tournament canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic, Ionescu is a Christian. Eddy: It helped us grow into the people we are, and then we know that we always have each other to fall back on. They upset No. Sabrina: If we really, really got into it, there'd be blood. [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. [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. Despite having only played for three seasons at this point, Ionescu was eligible for the 2019 WNBA draft by age. His sister, Sabrina, is a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) professional). Sabrina: I could tell Eddy was really nervous. What she had done, as a 12-year-old member of the Toastmasters International Club, was write a speech titled "How My Basketball Dreams Began. And we were going against the No. 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 . Sabrina: I showered, I had some food. After the NCAA made the extraordinary decision last week to cancel its tournaments in an effort to slow the coronavirus pandemic, Ionescu lost the opportunity to win the championship that has eluded her and her Oregon Ducks, the one for which she delayed entry to the WNBA to try to claim. Graves: There are nights when I can tell she's going to get a triple-double. I don't think his mom really appreciated that. It's a great role model for other kids to watch and say, "That kid's doing it, not just by God-given foot speed or strength or agility, she's doing it because she's just skilled. I think she has a chance to really change the game and the way the game is viewed by everybody. 706K followers. 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. Eddy Ionescu, Sabrina's twin brother, was born just 18 minutes after her in 1997. [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. Just show the world what we can do a little more. [1] Ionescu was also a significant draw when Oregon went on the road; for example, when the Ducks visited Washington during her junior season, the crowd for that game was 3,000 more than the Huskies drew two nights earlier against Oregon State.[7]. Her twin, Edward also played basketball at the City College of San Francisco and was solely a student in the 2018-19 school year, before walking on to the Ducks men's basketball team in 2019-20. As a result, she became the youngest player in WNBA history to achieve a triple-double. It motivates her to go back and practice more from learning from her mistakes. She was born to proud and supportive parents, Dan Ionescu and Liliana Blaj. Sabrina has 2 siblings: a twin brother, Edward, who was born 18 minutes after her, and an older brother, Andrei. She is also the NCAAs all-time triple-double leader with 26, and she is fourth on the all-time NCAA womens list in career assists with 1,091. She debuted for Oregon in November 2016, scoring 11 points in a win over Lamar. On February 26, 2018, Ionescu was named ESPNW's college basketball player of the week. (Photo . She averaged 14.6 points per game to go with 6.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists as she was the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and ESPNWs National Freshman of the Year, according to Oregons team site. 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. She was diagnosed the next day with a[42] grade 3 sprain, and was expected to miss about one month while recovering. Ionescu was born to Romanian-American parents in Walnut Creek, California. She has 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in the third-ranked Ducks' 74-66 win over No. Case UpdateContinue, Stanley Wilson Jr Wife does not exist, as the player was single till his death. The twin brother Edward (Eddy) was born 18 minutes after her. But you see your parents just going to work every day, working hard. NBA stars like Steph Curry and Kobe Bryant take notice of Sabrina's game. 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. She owns a record-setting 18 career triple-doubles - the most of any student-athlete in a single season and career. I went right back at him. Her elder brother is Andrei Ionescu. Sabrina makes an immediate impact, including 24 points and 12 rebounds in a 69-55 win against defending state champion Archbishop Mitty. Sabrina Ionescu. Eddy: We competed in everything. "[48] She adjusted quickly to the unfamiliar format, leading her team to the championship while going unbeaten and also being named tournament MVP. Sabrina: Growing up, I loved having role models and being able to look up to Steph and Kobe and players like that for inspiration. [Her parents] never questioned anything. Sabrina, his sister, plays professionally in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Dan Ionescu and Liliana Blaj, her proud parents, welcomed her into the world. He played basketball at City College of San Francisco. Sabrina: Work ethic and dedication, I learned that from my parents. I know on one Instagram post she kind of talked about, you know, "I let my basketball do the cooking," or whatever the case. [27] Ionescu finished the game with 31 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and a steal. Sabrina was around three years old when she first picked up a basketball. [1] However, believing that she had "unfinished business" at Oregon, she chose to come back for her senior season. Sabrina Ionescu Popularity . Just being able to, you know, have that platform now at Oregon is something that kind of sparks me to try to just voice my opinion on social media. how dedicated I was to playing the game. Being able to grow up, have the same friends, play the same sports and do everything together is really fun. Rob Herring Wife name is Nicola Herring and they are living a happily married life. [citation needed], Ionescu was the No. Eddy: Kobe's just wired different is what she told me. I gained a lot of experience playing on my brothers' 10-foot hoop. The New York Liberty guard, 25, shared on Saturday that she and the Las Vegas Raiders center, 31, are set to wed. "It . Forward Ruthy Hebard bought into her best friend's mission of changing the culture at Oregon. 4 overall player in the recruiting class of 2016. 3 Oregon arrives for the first time at Gampel Pavilion for a matchup against No. As the story's author Damian Foley put it, Yes, Sabrina Elaine Ionescu, who only earned her diploma in 2019, is considered by UO fans to be one of the four greatest Ducks ever, standing alongside such greats as Marcus Mariota, Steve Prefontaine, and the alumnus who co-founded Nike and made the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact possible. Ionescu actually has a twin brother named Eddy who also plays basketball. Verified. No one spoke. She's going to play at that level. Sue Bird, for comparison's sake, averages 1.7 rebounds a game, while Sky veteran guard Allie Quigley tallies 2.8 a game. A January 2019 mock draft by ESPN, incorporating input from WNBA personnel and ESPN women's basketball analysts, concluded that Ionescu was a possible top pick should she declare. 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. And then we kind of just sat down and discussed what her next plan was. She brought one of Kobe's books into the locker room, and we all looked at it. They had heard the language at home throughout their lives. Children Age And Net WorthContinue, Joki Octaviano Accident caused death after having life-threatening injuries. Her father, Dan, once met Luka Dukich, an Executive director for Chicago Bulls, while he was driving Uber in San Francisco. See All. Id play H-O-R-S-E, collect the money, Slurpees. As a fresher in high school, she recorded an average . Eddy: We were together when she made that decision. . [1], Because Ionescu turned 22 in December 2019 she was eligible to declare for the 2019 WNBA draft. It's awesome to be part of a team that has accomplished that. Required fields are marked *. Eddy: One day when we were short I think we only had four guys warming up I asked my coach if it was all right to have my sister play with us. 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). 4 UConn, the school for which Gigi hoped to play. Too nervous to sleep. Lying in her bed, wrapped in her gray blankets, she'll try to meditate. 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. I went to Stanford. 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}. Playing basketball with her older brother, Andrei, and her twin brother, Eddy, had taught her the joy of clawing for every rebound, every point. Sabrina Ionescu brother, Edward, is also a basketball player. They own and run the "Greco's New York Pizzeria," a pizza restaurant located on Hollywood Boulevard. 1 by New York Liberty in WNBA draft, while Gianna Bryant is an honorary pick . The referee came over, ejected him, and Sabrina just got up and started clapping in his face. 1 seed and a deep run in the postseason, the NCAA halted its tournaments amid the coronavirus pandemic, effectively ending Sabrina's collegiate career. Marc Spears on Blazers guard Damian Lillard, who reps his hometown on and off the court. [7] However, she had difficulty making a college choice, not signing a National Letter of Intent with any school during either the early signing period in November 2015 or the late period in April 2016. They never took anything for granted, especially starting warm-ups. They came here, and they've worked for everything they've gotten and had to work super hard. So Sabrina always kept her shoes with her when we went to Eddy's games. [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. Carlos Serrao for ESPN. Eddy Ionescu, aka Edward 'Vortex' Ionescu, followed the same path as her sister and is a professional basketball player like her sister. During her junior year, Ionescu averaged 18.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.7 steals per game, and helped Miramonte High School to a 302 record with an appearance in the CIF open division semifinals. Id play P-I-G, collect the money, Slurpees.. And we lost the chance to watch her tear through March like she has torn through the record books. Dan: In middle school, they had no girls team to speak of, but they had a boys team. She posted a triple-double in the championship game loss to Chaminade with 24 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Ionescu attended a middle school that did not have enough players to field a girls' team, and her school refused to allow her to play on the boys' team. 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. Sabrina: I knew I was doing a little bit of everything, but there were no stats up on the scoreboard. 1 ranked point guard and No. Her first language was Romanian, which she used when playing with her brother in basketball games. Kelly Sopak, Sabrina's AAU and high school coach: She eventually just showed up at tryouts. She then joined the City College of San Francisco but later transferred to the University of Oregon. Sabrina: My dad would try to coach from the stands, and he'd yell stuff in Romanian to me. Like [laughs], why's she yelling at open gym? [21][22] She was later named ESPNW Player of the Week. [45], On July 6, 2022, Ionescu had 31 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to record the first 30-point triple-double in WNBA history.[46]. The Ionescus have certainly made a name for themselves in the basketball world. Hroniss Grasu, Sabrina's partner, is a well-known free agency football center who has experience playing for several clubs, including the Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, and San Francisco 49ers. Five bucks to the winner. Reels. More importantly, he didn't just show up in my life and leave -- he stayed. But then I got to know her, of course, and just know she's so competitive and always wants to win. The following year, Sabrina leads the Pac-12 in points and assists, and the Ducks earn a 2-seed in the NCAA tournament. She is just driven differently. She averaged 14.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, ranking second on the team in scoring and rebounding, and first in assists. Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu (20) celebrates after a game against Mississippi State during the 2019 NCAA women's tournament. Heading into her junior season, Sabrina has 10 triple-doubles in her career. Sabrina Ionescu and her father Dan Ionescu (Source: OregonLive) She embarked on a historic career with the Ducks and eventually became the No. Sabrina Ionescu's brother Eddy Ionescu is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty. Sopak: Even at that age she just had this swagger about her. 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.