They broke down the game, and then. Ionescu's friends and family were excited to congratulate the athlete. Namrata is an enthusiastic CSIT student. Blog . Be Unique. If they would see something scary, a dog or something, they would reach at each other's hands, not at our hands as parents. There is no related content available. As a kid, Ionescu was always competitive, playing sports with and against her twin brother Eddy. 707K followers. Sabrina Ionescu Net Worth. Eddy: We competed in everything. However, things did not go as per plan for Dan. [41], On August 1, 2020, Ionescu injured her left ankle in the second quarter against the Atlanta Dream. After two years at the City College of San Francisco, Eddy transfers to Oregon, and he and Sabrina become roommates. Holly Andres for ESPN. You take that on: You want to prove to everyone that you belong. Ramona Shelburne on why playing for the Clippers is deeper than basketball for Paul George. On April 14, 2020, Ionescu was named the winner of the Honda Sports Award as the best collegiate female basketball player in the nation. [21][22] She was later named ESPNW Player of the Week. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. "Sabrina Ionescu - Forbes 30 Under 30 Profile". Playing basketball with her older brother, Andrei, and her twin brother, Eddy, had taught her the joy of clawing for every rebound, every point. 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. Eddy Ionescu, aka Edward 'Vortex' Ionescu, followed the same path as her sister and is a professional basketball player like her sister. She absolutely killed it that game. [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. Sabrina: What we've been building these last couple of years goes to show women's basketball is valued. Death Cause And Mental Health, Katrina Gorry Partner Clara Markstedt Is A Soccer Player Children and Age Revealed, Aaron Nesmith Brother Eddie Nesmith, Parents Girlfriend And Instagram, Demetress Bell Wife Is He Married? Sabrina and her brother are both "fairly fluent" in Romanian. Yeah, she doesn't miss free throws very often anymore. In his redshirt junior season at Oregon in 2019-20, Eddy first appeared on Dec. 7, 2019 against Hawaii and had one assist. I didn't even look at the papers because I thought he just wanted me to hold them. Sabrina: Obviously that was tough. On November 6, 2018, Ionescu recorded her 11th triple-double in a victory against Alaska-Fairbanks. Hroniss Grasu and Sabrina Ionescu are a Lovely Couple. She played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. My family has always been there for inspiration to keep pushing and one day become a WNBA player.". Sabrina: I don't really think I grasped what it would be like. Required fields are marked *. Likewise, she attended Miramonte High School in Orinda, California. So I figured that if I could rebound, I would be able to get the ball myself. Sabrina became the first college basketball player to compile 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists the same day she spoke at Kobe and Gianna Bryant's memorial. And nothing was ever given to us as kids. 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. [33][34] Payton personally congratulated Ionescu on the achievement. According to Ducks coach Kelly Graves, in 2019 Ionescu had "a chance to be a Marcus Mariota, that level of player and an esteemed Oregon Duck when it's all said and done." Talking about her academics, she attended Miramonte High School from 2012 to 2016. Children Age And Net Worth, Joki Octaviano Accident And Cause Of Death How Did He Die? [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]. 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. There, she achieved an impressive milestone, becoming the first college basketball player to collect 1,000 assists, 2,000 points, and 1,000 rebounds in a career. She was born with her twin brother named Edward also called Eddy, who was born only 18 minutes after the birth of Sabrina. She received the 2019 John R. Wooden Award and both the 2018 and 2019 Nancy Lieberman Award. And so we'd play him in H-O-R-S-E, two-on-two, one-on-one. She played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. She finished at Miramonte High School in Orinda, California. "My Romanian heritage influences my life on a daily basis and is something that I find pride in," she says. [23] Since that game on December 20, 2018, Ionescu has added five more triple-doubles for a season total of eight, and has broken the Oregon women's basketball assist record (formerly 608 assists) in a Pac-12 conference game against USC. Sue Bird, for comparison's sake, averages 1.7 rebounds a game, while Sky veteran guard Allie Quigley tallies 2.8 a game. Watching it now, like, wow, a lot of my dreams have become a reality. She has played in three games with the Liberty so far. No posts yet. The Ionescus have certainly made a name for themselves in the basketball world. I'm kind of a procrastinator, so I let it get to like an hour before I had to decide. 1 seed in the Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament. Eddy: I remember we went straight to the gym afterward, just started throwing free throws for hours. Ionescu also helped lead the Ducks to the Final Four in 2018-19. Yeah, we would just go home, eat, sleep, basketball, repeat. [3], On November 13, 2016, Ionescu made her collegiate debut for Oregon, recording 11 points in an 8467 win over Lamar. Sabrina has 2 siblings: a twin brother, Edward, who was born 18 minutes after her, and an older brother, Andrei. Born in Walnut Creek, CA #6. I was crying, my family was upset. Graves: There are nights when I can tell she's going to get a triple-double. In her career, Ionescu was the first player in NCAA history (male or female) to score 2,000 career points and have 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 career assists. Sabrina Elaine Ionescu is an American basketball . Sabrina Ionescu was born on 6th December 1997 and grew up in Walnut Creek, California, to her Romanian-American 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. I'm torn.". Every time I stood up, everyone in unison would be like, "basketball." His sister, Sabrina, is a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) professional). In the season before she arrived, the average announced home attendance for the Ducks was 1,501. Dotun Akintoye on Israel Adesanya as the UFC's next big thing. This team is based in Brooklyn and is well-known in the WNBA. No statistics available for this season. During that time, her father's wife was Liliana Blaj, who was living apart from her only husband. She was an Oregon Ducks basketball player in college. . "There won't be another group like this ever.". Find out about youtube star Sabrina Ionescu: Age, What she did before fame, her family life Latest information about her on social networks Fun facts: before fame, family life, popularity rankings, and more And then we kind of just sat down and discussed what her next plan was. Sabrina Ionescu is a professional basketball player who plays for the Womens National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a Point Guard for the New York Liberty. I think he almost started crying, gave me a hug, everyone was super happy, and then I started school the next day. Case UpdateContinue, Stanley Wilson Jr Wife does not exist, as the player was single till his death. Produced by Nancy Devaney and Emma Reed. Sabrina Ionescu's brother Eddy Ionescu is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty. She is just driven differently. That's all I said. That same day, Ionescu flies to the Bay Area for a game against Stanford. EUGENE, Ore. Sabrina Ionescu woke not long after dawn in her small apartment, laced up her black Nikes and walked across a deserted street to the looming arena where she had . Oregon coach Kelly Graves has developed a sense for nights when his star will get a triple-double. Graves' remarks about Ionescu's future iconic status at Oregon proved to be prophetic. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Sabrina: I just remember the first couple practices, always getting the ball stolen from me and not being able to get those passes through just because the level of competition was so high. These are things that kids can acquire; they don't have to be born with those things. Ionescu, a Walnut Creek, California native, grew up a Golden State Warriors fan and would drive the 16.5 miles west on CA-24 to watch her team from the stands of Oracle Arena. Eddy: I wasn't too jealous of the people she's met until Steph and Kobe. As a result, she became the youngest player in WNBA history to achieve a triple-double. Reels. With help from an Ionescu 3-pointer that puts them up by six with 1:12 left, the Ducks beat Mississippi State 88-84 in the Elite Eight to advance, at last, to the Final Four, where they play Baylor. At the time, she was the highest-ranked recruit ever to commit to Oregon basketball. After all, Ive never met another Romanian basketball player on the floor., twin brother Eddy Ionescu gave us tv gold last night with a Romanian breakdown of the game of his sis @sabrina_i20 @OregonWBB #WNCAA pic.twitter.com/YFuCJ2BUDo, Many NBA Players Supported the WNBA in a Big Way. On Feb. 3, with so many still in mourning, No. Carlos Serrao for ESPN. New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu rejoins her alma mater as the director of athletic culture, the program announced Friday. [12] According to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post, Ionescu chose Oregon "because she wanted to be the all-American at Oregon, not just an all-American somewhere else." Sabrina: The fact that I had to fight for every rebound, because he wasn't going to give me anything easy, is kind of what I translate to my game now. Dan: Here's one thing that I've learned through the years with Sabrina. [1] 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 points, 1,000 assists, and 1,000 rebounds in a career.[2]. [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. Because they knew exactly how it was gonna start. Earlier in the season, Sabrina watched the video her father took of her young self making that Toastmasters speech about her basketball dreams. The WNBA draft order is released in September, and the New York Liberty draw the top pick. Eddy: One of my favorite memories of Sabrina and I growing up was just going to the park. Sabrina's like that to this day. Sopak: Even at that age she just had this swagger about her. 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}. He has an older brother named Nico, who was a placekicker for Washington State from 2008 to 2010. About. New York Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu Sets Multiple WNBA Records in Historic Game Among the first was her friend Vanessa. He played basketball at City College of San Francisco. And that fourth quarter, we just didn't shoot the ball well. It might have been 1 or 2 in the morning when Sabrina and I were on the phone when she had decided where she was going to go and just said, "I'll just surprise them when I get there." Then he called me and said, "Where are you?" 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. [Laughs], Seattle or Eugene? So I didn't post anything. She is also the all-time leader in assists (769), steals (549) and triple-doubles (21). [30] In a win over then #3 Stanford (8755), Ionescu scored a career high 37 points along with 11 rebounds and 7 assists, and broke Alison Lang's Oregon all-time career scoring record of 2,252 points in the third quarter. She hadn't yet rewritten the standard for her peers while inspiring the generation to come. Ionescus love for the sport started at a young age, as she began playing basketball when she was only three years old. She was named Pac-12 Freshman of Week four times and was named USBWA National Player of the Week. Wife And Net Worth Revealed. Like Ionescu - who used to hustle grown men for Slurpee money alongside her twin brother - Taurasi is deeply, almost scarily competitive. I just know she doesn't like to lose, and that's, you know, it's her biggest strength, but it's also her biggest weakness. Eddy: Whether she would bust my lip, or I hit her in the nose on accident, or whatever it was, we would absolutely play through the blood. Her first language was Romanian, which she used when playing with her brother in basketball games. I was like, "Have fun in New York!". "It's unfortunate we didn't get to see them in the tournament. Ionescu also recorded her eighth triple-double of the season, tying her own NCAA single-season record from last season. Playing him was not always easy, but I do improve because he's harder to play. Tyrese Haliburton Sister, Who Are His Siblings? If we ever needed a player, I would just look at Sabrina. [31][32] In the rivalry game against Oregon State on January 24, 2020, Ionescu had 24 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds and broke Oregon State and NBA star Gary Payton's Pac-12 all-time record of 938 assists. A Big 3 of Jones, Stewart and Ionescu would. Speaking of which. Earlier that day, she had been a featured speaker at the memorial service for Kobe Bryant, who had become a close personal friend within the previous two years, flying from Los Angeles to the Bay Area immediately after her speech.[2]. It motivates her to go back and practice more from learning from her mistakes. However, that's quite a pull, you know? Everyone's watching us. They used to play football and basketball for college-level games. 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. Hebard: When they came out with the draft, I texted her. Having kids come up to me after the game and just talk to me, wearing my jersey some are shaking and just super excited to meet me is awesome and humbling. Sabrina: If we really, really got into it, there'd be blood. Brother's name: Edward Ionescu "Eddy" (Twin), Andrei Ionescu: Education: Miramonte High School , University of Oregon: Height: 5 feet 11 inches (180c m) Marital Status: Unmarried: Husband/Boyfriend: NA . She debuted for Oregon in November 2016, scoring 11 points in a win over Lamar. Eddy has since joined Oregons team. 2 Duke en route to an improbable Elite Eight matchup against top-seeded UConn. Major is general social science. Sabrina is 18 minutes older than Eddy. On February 26, 2018, Ionescu was named ESPNW's college basketball player of the week. Ionescu was born to Romanian-American parents in Walnut Creek, California. Her father, Dan Ionescu, fled communist Romania around the time of the 1989 revolution, seeking political asylum in the United States. Sabrina: It was between Oregon and Washington, and I had no idea. I think she has a chance to really change the game and the way the game is viewed by everybody. She was born to Romanian-American parents, Dan Lonescu and Liliana Blaj. I felt her emotional side of it, which is kind of weird to describe. Graves: We had a chance. So we were kind of just banking that it was gonna be her last year. Sabrina Ionescu Popularity . 3 Oregon arrives for the first time at Gampel Pavilion for a matchup against No. I used my older brother as inspiration to keep improving. Also, people are curious to know more about her partner, parents and family. Sopak: Even though I didn't know until, I think, eight minutes before the deadline, when you step back and look at it, it was like that was the only thing she was going to do, if you know Sabrina. "She's an unbelievable talent on that team," Curry would go on to say in a Warriors news conference. Sabrina Ionescu WNBA Stats | Basketball-Reference.com Sabrina Ionescu Pronunciation: \yo-NESS-coo\ Sabrina Ionescu Twitter : sabrina_i20 Instagram: sabrina_i Position: Guard Shoots: Right 5-11 , 165lb (180cm, 74kg) More player info 1x All Star 20 20 SUMMARY Career G 69 PTS 15.0 TRB 6.3 AST 6.1 FG% 40.2 FG3% 33.1 FT% 92.7 eFG% 48.7 PER Oregon Ducks point guard Sabrina Ionescu sits down with Maria Taylor and opens up about the strong bond she has with her twin brother Eddy Ionescu and her pa. But we were all like, "OK, we got here, we know what we can do.". Graves: She claims that she thought I cried. They upset No. [52] Ionescu is also very close friends with former teammate Ruthy Hebard. Sabrina was born in Walnut Creek, California, on December 6, 1997. . Her father's name is Dan Ionescu who fled Communist Romania around the time of the 1989 revolution. [Her parents] never questioned anything. Sabrina: We're built-in best friends. That stuff comes out in you. Sabrina Ionescu is 23 years old born on 6th December 1997 in Walnut Creek, California. The scrappy kid from the Bay Area has risen to become the most formidable player in her sport. Seriously, word-for-word." In the NCAA Tournament Final Four, the Ducks lost to the eventual national champion Baylor 7267. Sabrina: I knew I was doing a little bit of everything, but there were no stats up on the scoreboard. Her father, Dan, once met Luka Dukich, an Executive director for Chicago Bulls, while he was driving Uber in San Francisco. [13], Ionescu rose to national prominence in her sophomore year, she led the Ducks to their third regular-season league crown all-time and first-ever No. Source: Forbes The Ducks lead by a point after the first half, but strong post play propels the Bears, who hold Ionescu scoreless in the fourth quarter to win 72-67. Graves: She commands and demands and deserves the respect that she's been given. 1 defensive team. Dan Ionescu and Liliana Blaj, her proud parents, welcomed her into the world. I shot 3-pointers, free throws, everything left-handed. She wasn't ready for that yet. "You just see it's a little bit different in her preparation, in her focus, in her manner," he says. Sabrina: That's all I talked about. They were all riled up, and we got a steal, passed it to Sabrina, and she went up for a layup and the guy intentionally fouled her, just pushed her, two hands, in the back. So Sabrina always kept her shoes with her when we went to Eddy's games. She has 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in the third-ranked Ducks' 74-66 win over No. [40] She played her first game with the Liberty on July 25. Ten years ago, Sabrina Ionescu hadn't yet turned the basketball world on its head. Graves: She takes it to heart. Seven years later, Ionescu and her twin brother, Eddy, were born. And that was it. You could really see how invested everyone was. But when she was a kid, she and her twin brother, Eddy Ionescu, would channel the future Oregon Duck's on-court flair for a far less righteous end goal. When I found out Sabrina had a twin brother, Eddy, I immediately knew I wanted to interview them together because they . More importantly, he didn't just show up in my life and leave -- he stayed. 213,394 likes. His parents, tefan and Mariana Grasu, migrated from Romania to the USA in 1982. , Read More Demetress Bell Wife Is He Married? Nick Bosa teaming up with brother Joey would 'break' NFL as pass-rush . Sabrina: That could have been my last game, you know, in an Oregon uniform, and so I didn't have any idea, I just knew that, you know, I had let my team down. She then averaged 19.7 points per game in her sophomore season to go with 7.8 assists and 6.7 rebounds, and then 19.9 points per game, 8.2 assists, and 7.4 rebounds in her junior year. And All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu is feeling as healthy and energized as she has since she joined the Liberty as the No. 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. We let Oregon down in some way, because we had such high expectations for ourselves. If we only knew when we could see her play her sport again. Sabrina: I remember I was in the front yard with Eddy, and he was like, "My left hand's better than yours." He scored six points per game as a freshman and 9.9 as a sophomore. Basketball Player Born in California #37. Ionescu was born in Walnut Creek, California, to Romanian-American parents. During her first year, she participated in 14 games out of 29 games, scoring 13.8 points, 2.9 steals, and 3.9 assists per game during that season. Seven years later, Ionescu and her twin brother, Eddy, were born. Death Cause And Mental HealthContinue, Katrina Gorry Partner Clara Markstedt is a Swedish football player who competes for Vittsjo GIK. Sabrina: It tore me apart. If we didnt want somebody else knowing what I wanted to do like a pick-and-pop, or watch me in the corner, or drive to the left wed say it to each other in Romanian, Eddy said, according to The Oregonian. Growing up, they'd even speak in. 1 in the WNBA Draft a year later.. That was in May 2020, a time in which she sat atop the basketball world as the NCAA's . 1 overall pick in the 2020 WNBA draft by the New York Liberty. And then someone told us about a girls club in Orinda [California]. In the second round of the NCAA tournament, a 91-68 win against Indiana, Sabrina gets her first triple-double in a tournament game. Sabrina, his sister, plays professionally in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Eddy: At that time, I didn't know or she didn't know whether she was gonna leave for the WNBA. Sopak: The car was packed and they didn't know which direction they were going. Sabrina enrolls at Oregon and for the first time lives apart from Eddy, who stays in the Bay Area and enrolls at City College of San Francisco. I was like, "I just don't know. Most Popular #24328. And he definitely helped me with that, growing up. 1 pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft to the Liberty. In late April 2018, Ionescu and Oregon teammates Erin Boley, Otiona Gildon, and Ruthy Hebard entered the USA Basketball women's national 3x3 championship tournament at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Eddy: Kobe's just wired different is what she told me. I feel like that's definitely something that she'll leave behind, that's going to motivate the younger generation. He, Read More Rob Herring Wife: Who Is Nicola Herring? And she usually delivers. When they were kids, the two used to even hustle older men on the basketball court so that they could get money for Slurpees. They would compete against older men at the basketball court to win extra . I applaud her. I just walked into the locker room and knew we won. [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. But everything comes to a halt when the NCAA announces a complete shutdown of winter and spring championships. I figured out ways to write poems about basketball the entire year. Months go by. Carlos Serrao for ESPN. Parents Age And Net Worth Revealed. Sabrina's ancestry is Romanian-Caucasian and has a twin brother, Edward. She was named the McDonald's All-America game MVP after scoring a record 25 points, including seven three-pointers, with 10 rebounds. Later, he was transferred to Oregon Ducks and played for them like his sister. Maybe that's what drives her. She is clearly in a happy relationship with Grasu and is excited to take the next step in their journey together. Case Update, Stanley Wilson Jr Wife Was He Married? They own and run the "Greco's New York Pizzeria," a pizza restaurant located on Hollywood Boulevard. On December 6, 1997, Sabrina Ionescu was born in Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County, California. There'd be fights. I think that, you know, college, even high school girls, athletes, need to step up and say, "Hey, we deserve this," "Hey, do you see what I'm doing?" In an interview with ESPN, the presumptive No. The Ducks make the NCAA tournament for the first time in 12 years, as a 10-seed. Parents Ethnicity And Girlfriend. With Oregon poised for a No. Taurasi, whose parents came to the U.S. from Argentina, says in an espnW interview that one of the similarities she sees between Ionescu and herself is "an immigrant mindset.". Her elder brother is Andrei Ionescu. 4 Stanford. Sopak: The biggest challenge she has now is overcoming losing. 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. Then you start to realize the incredible competitiveness that she has, the skill level that she has, the physical and mental toughness that she has. (Photo . The Ducks administer a historic walloping, beating the Huskies 74-56 for their worst loss ever at Gampel. [42], The next season, on May 18, 2021, Ionescu recorded her first professional triple-double. The referee came over, ejected him, and Sabrina just got up and started clapping in his face. And I was like, "I'm by the hotel here." Fell straight down. Sabrina Ionescu. The fact he was so angry and so aggressive with that. Sabrina: Growing up, I loved having role models and being able to look up to Steph and Kobe and players like that for inspiration.