After Friday night's WNBA Draft, former Oregon Ducks guard Sabrina Ionescu officially knew where she was going to be continuing her basketball career.
After being taken by the New York Liberty with the no. 1 overall pick, Ionescu had another thing to figure out: decide whose shoes she'd be wearing when she debuts on the Barclays Center court.
On the same night as the draft, Ionescu announced her decision. Despite a full-on recruiting effort from Golden State Warriors guard and one of Ionescu's basketball idols Stephen Curry on behalf of Under Armour, the new WNBA star announced that she'd be signing with Nike.
“Excited to take the next step and join the Nike family!” Sabrina Ionescu wrote on an Instagram announcement.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_Gg1e7jDUM/
The decision should come as no surprise, considering the extremely close ties between Nike and the University of Oregon. Still, Ionescu disclosed that Curry was persistent in his efforts to persuade her to let Under Armour produce her first signature sneaker.
“I think he texts me almost every day.” the new WNBA guard said earlier this week about Curry's recruiting on NBC Sports Bay Area’s Runnin’ Plays Podcast “He’s working hard.”
Ionescu is widely regarded as one of the greatest college basketball players of all time, though she lost her final chance to win a national championship for the Ducks as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that cancelled the rest of her senior season. She's expected to be the face of the Liberty's rebranding under new ownership (Brooklyn Nets owner Joseph Tsai) and a slew of young players.
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