EUGENE, Ore. – Sabrina Ionescu continued to add to her historic legacy on Thursday morning as Oregon’s senior superstar was awarded the 2020 Wade Trophy for the second year in a row by the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association (WBCA).
The prestigious Wade Trophy is presented annually by the WBCA to the NCAA Division I national player of the year. Ionescu repeated as the Wade Trophy winner while also earning her third straight WBCA first-team all-America honor, headlining a 10-player team that also included teammates Ruthy Hebard and Satou Sabally.
Oregon is the only team with multiple student-athletes on the WBCA all-America team, and the Ducks are the first program since 2016-17 (UConn) to have three players on the 10-player squad. This is the first time in program history Oregon has had multiple players receive WBCA first-team all-America recognition.
Ionescu joins Nancy Lieberman, Seimone Augustus, Brittney Griner, Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore as the only two-time winners of the Wade Trophy.
“Sabrina had another historic season at Oregon and elevated her game and, in so doing, our sport as well,” said WBCA executive director Danielle M. Donehew. “She is an incredibly talented student-athlete, leader and ambassador for women’s basketball. Her mastery of so many skills coupled with her tremendous determination to succeed has excited the national media and fans alike, and has inspired the next generation of student-athletes.”
The only player in college basketball history with 2,000 career points (2,562), 1,000 assists (1,091) and 1,000 rebounds (1,040), and the NCAA all-time leader with 26 triple-doubles, Ionescu is one step closer to being the unanimous national player of the year following a stellar senior season. The Walnut Creek, Calif., native has also been named the national player of the year by the Associated Press, USBWA and ESPN.com, and she is a finalist for both the Naismith Trophy and the Wooden Award. She was also the Pac-12 player of the year for the third straight year, and she won the Senior CLASS Award earlier this week.
Ionescu and Hebard are both unanimous first-team all-Americans with the WBCA selection. Ionescu is a unanimous first-team selection for the third year in a row, and Hebard joins her for the first time in her career to become just the second unanimous all-American in program history. The legendary duo landed on the Associated Press and USBWA first team before earning two of the five spots on the Wooden Award all-America team on Wednesday.
Sabally is a consensus all-American with her first career WBCA selection. The junior – who has announced she will enter the upcoming WNBA Draft – was a second-team all-American by both the AP and the USBWA, joining Ionescu and Hebard as the only Ducks ever to earn all-America honors by the WBCA, AP and USBWA.
Oregon’s heralded “Big Three” led the Ducks to a 31-2 overall record and a sweep of the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles before the NCAA Tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 health crisis. Ionescu paced the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game with Hebard (17.3) and Sabally (16.2) right behind, putting all three Ducks in the Pac-12 top 10 and making Oregon the only team in the nation with three players averaging at least 16.0 points apiece.
SABRINA IONESCU – Wade Trophy Winner, WBCA All-American Ionescu enjoyed arguably her best season of a historic career as a senior, leading the nation with a career-high 9.1 assists per game while ranking fourth in the Pac-12 in scoring and third with a career-high 8.6 rebounds per game. The NCAA triple-double queen matched her own single-season record with eight in 2019-20, and her 26 career triple-doubles are 14 more than any other man or woman in history. Ionescu’s 1,091 career assists are the fourth-most in NCAA women’s basketball history, and she ranked fourth nationally with a stellar 3.05 assist-to-turnover ratio. Ionescu posted a career-best 51.8 field goal percentage while leading the Pac-12 in free-throw percentage (92.1), and she capped her career by being named the Pac-12 Tournament most outstanding player for the second time in the last three years. Ionescu is the Pac-12 all-time leader in assists for both men and women, and she also owns Oregon’s program records for points, three-pointers (329) and double-figure scoring games (134).
RUTHY HEBARD – WBCA All-American Hebard was the most efficient scorer in the nation in 2019-20, leading the NCAA in field goal percentage with a career-best mark of 68.5 to break her own UO single-season record. A four-year all-Pac-12 selection along with Ionescu, Hebard capped her tremendous career as the Pac-12 and Oregon all-time leader in field goal percentage at 65.1, putting her in a tie for seventh on the NCAA women’s all-time list. Hebard ranked fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring while leading the conference with a career-best 9.6 rebounds per game, and she racked up a career-high 16 double-doubles and led Oregon with 14 games of 20 points or more. Hebard is Oregon’s record-holder with 987 career field goals while ranking second behind Ionescu on the all-time scoring list (2,368), and she is third all-time with 1,299 rebounds. Hebard joined Ionescu on the Pac-12 all-tournament team, closing her career with 24 points in the championship game against No. 7 Stanford.
SATOU SABALLY – WBCA All-American For strong and rigid erections you need the help of a spediscounts on levitra t? According to obstetricians (experts who deal with ED issue. You will be able to viagra generic uk enjoy enhanced sexual pleasure in the coition. cialis professional price Adaptogens are the naturally occurring substances found in plants and herbs. This shop viagra increased blood flow will cause an erection.
Sabally is expected to be one of the top picks in the April 17 WNBA Draft after a terrific junior season with the Ducks. The two-time all-Pac-12 selection averaged 16.2 points and a career-high 6.9 rebounds per game in 29 starts, and she put up 17.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game during Oregon’s 19-game win streak to close the season. Sabally racked up a career-high seven double-doubles in 2019-20 – with six coming against ranked opponents – and she scored in double figures 23 times while posting seven 20-point performances. The Berlin, Germany, native was especially aggressive attacking the rim as a junior, leading the Ducks by a wide margin with a career-high 144 trips to the free-throw line and shooting a career-best 79.2 percent from the stripe. Sabally finishes her career at No. 8 on the Oregon all-time scoring list with 1,508 points, and she is ninth with 180 three-pointers.
2020 WBCA NCAA Division I All-Americans
Chennedy Carter – Texas A&M
Lauren Cox – Baylor
Kathleen Doyle – Iowa
Dana Evans – Louisville
Tyasha Harris – South Carolina
Ruthy Hebard – Oregon
Sabrina Ionescu – Oregon
Aari McDonald – Arizona
Satou Sabally – Oregon
Megan Walker – Connecticut
