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EUGENE, Ore. — Kelly Graves, head coach of Oregon’s women’s basketball team, stood astonished by what he saw from an overhang.
It was Dec. 14, 2019. Beneath him was the court where the Ducks blasted Long Beach State by 36 and where two crowds had remained 15 minutes after the game ended.
One huddle of fans seeking autographs, selfies and a proximity to greatness encircled Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi, who brought two of her friends to the game.
The other huddle — noticeably larger — created a portrait of star power Graves would never forget. Because at the center was his senior point guard. He witnessed live the magnetism of Sabrina Ionescu and he could hardly believe what he saw.
“The crowd around Sabrina was twice the size around Kobe,” Graves told The Post. “It was like who’s the real star here? It was incredible. … It was very, very telling that this was somebody who was pretty popular.”
She would wind up with a signature Nike shoe that’s become one of the most worn sneakers in the NBA.
She would become popular enough to warrant the three-city Sabrina Ionescu Asia Tour in Manila, Guangzhou and Hong Kong that drew thousands.
She would become the face of one of the WNBA’s legacy franchises.
But all of what she would become, the iconic figure to which she’d ascend, was first sparked at Oregon.
Her grand return to Matthew Knight Arena for the Liberty’s preseason finale against the Toyota Antelopes of the Women’s Japan Basketball League on Monday shined the spotlight on the origin of her brand.
For Ionescu, it was a chance to show gratitude and give back to the community that supported her through thick and thin.
“This was home for four years and kind of my first home away from home,” Ionescu said. “And so that’s something that you never lose sight of and you always have those feelings every time you come back.”
Ionescu claimed her old stall in the Ducks locker room. She was set to run through the tunnel as a player, knowing it would be her final time doing so after the pandemic took this opportunity from her five years ago.
“It’s gonna kind of feel like I got an Oregon jersey on,” she said.
Ionescu could’ve gone to just about any college she wanted. But she came to Eugene, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as a naive 18-year-old with a dream of vitalizing a women’s basketball program that had never made it out of the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend.
But her four-year journey at Oregon changed her in ways that she never could have imagined.
“Looking back,” Ionescu said as she sat back in a folding chair that overlooks Oregon’s practice court, “thinking about how risky that was and how that could have gone any way… but [I always] believed in myself and my decisions.”
It’s hard to pinpoint Ionescu’s first viral moment. One early memory is her game-winning, buzzer-beater 3 against Cal on Jan. 8, 2017.
Ionescu had a shaky shooting day, going 5-for-20 from the field. But even after missing all six of her previous shots from deep, Ionescu’s confidence was unshaken. She caught the inbounds pass, took one dribble before pulling up with 1.2 seconds left and a hand in her face.
Game over. Oregon won 69-66.
“I was the highest recruit the university had ever had, but it doesn’t matter until you do something on the court,” Ionescu said. “That buzzer beat at Cal probably kind of set us up for the rest of my freshman season.”
And everything else that would happen next.
Ionescu’s breakout sophomore campaign put the Ducks on the map. Attendance at home games started to rise.
Ionescu was witnessing her dream gradually turn into reality.
The Ducks went to back-to-back Elite Eights in her first two seasons and broke through to the Final Four her junior season.
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Her all-around game was so impressive that NBA players started to take notice, including Stephen Curry and Bryant.
Bryant left a lasting impression on Ionescu. Her time spent with him in the summer of 2019 rewired her brain. She’s always been a competitive fiend. But that “Mamba Mentality” took it to a whole new level.
“Being able to understand that arguably the greatest basketball player of all time is kind of pouring in and trying to teach and believe in a young college female,” Ionescu said. “For me, that was kind of eye-opening to see he didn’t care where you came from, what you looked like, who you were. He just knew that you had something in you that you could go out there and be great.”
Ionescu returned to Oregon her senior season for “unfinished business.” She wanted that national championship title more than anything.
Bryant’s untimely death — as heartbreaking as it was — galvanized the Ducks. Ionescu dedicated her season to him.
But Ionescu’s best shot at a national championship was denied by a virus that overtook the planet like a wildfire.
To this day, she remains the only NCAA player who’s surpassed 2,500 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists over the course of her career. Her record-shattering 26 career triple-doubles is a mark that may never be touched.
Ionescu’s legend remains prevalent around Eugene, Oregon.
Go to a football game and you’ll spot dozens of basketball jerseys with her name on the back of them.
A 5-foot tall cutout of her hangs on a wall at the Wild Duck Cafe across from the arena.
She — much like Kobe — is one of few who can be referred to on a first-name basis and everyone knows who you’re talking about.
“Obviously a national championship here is what the ultimate goal was. But when you look back and understand the footprint that you can leave in a community and at a university, it’s far greater than any accolade and any championship that you could ever bring,” Ionescu said. “And so understanding kind of the impact that I could leave in this community as far as a fellow student-athlete, knowing I can change lives and continue to inspire and uplift this university because without it, I wouldn’t be the player that I am, and so I think that goes far beyond what I would have done with the national championship year.”
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