How Good Is Sabrina Ionescu?
Sabrina Ionescu’s list of accomplishments is long and growing.
Last season, the point guard led the Oregon Ducks to their first-ever Final Four with team highs in minutes played (36.2), points per game (19.9), assists per game (8.1), and free-throw percentage (88.3%). She was also second on the team in 3-point percentage (42.1%), rebounds per game (7.3), and steals per game (1.3).
As the reigning John R. Wooden Award and Wade Trophy winner, it is no surprise that she is widely expected to rack up multiple player of the year awards in the 2019–20 season. The senior is a two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year and two-time recipient of the Nancy Lieberman Award for best point guard in the country, with the chance to become only the second player to receive either of those awards three times.
Five weeks into this season, Ionescu continues to break records. She joined the 2,000-point club, became the all-time Pac-12 assist leader, and set the Oregon record for the most career 3-pointers. And, of course, she led the Ducks to a victory over Team USA in an exhibition game, only the second time in its history that Team USA has lost to a college team.
Her combined abilities to find open teammates, take care of the ball, and score in bunches (as demonstrated by her 30-point performance in that Team USA victory) set her apart from the field. Among players with a usage rate of at least 20% in the 2018–19 season, Ionescu had the highest assist-to-turnover ratio and was in the 87th percentile in points per scoring attempt.
One record Ionescu is not simply breaking but absolutely shattering is the NCAA triple-doubles mark. At 19 triple-doubles and counting, she has recorded the most triple-doubles in a career of any NCAA player, men’s or women’s. The next-highest career mark on the women’s side is nine, recorded by Chastadie Barrs between 2015 and 2019, and the record on the men’s side is 12, which Ionescu has a chance to double this season.
When the New York Liberty almost certainly select Ionescu with their first overall pick in the 2020 WNBA draft, they will be adding one of the best guards women’s college basketball has ever seen. Among the 98 college guards drafted in the first round since 2002, she is already in the top 10 in total assists and total rebounds. If she matches her production from last season, she will finish in the top five in total assists, total rebounds, total points, and 3-point percentage. No player is even in the top 35 of all four categories.
Ionescu’s per-game numbers are just as impressive. Through the 2018–19 season, she ranks third in assists per game, seventh in rebounds per game, and 17th in points per game among the same group.
Her Hoop Stats will be keeping tabs on Ionescu’s numbers as the season progresses and the draft approaches. But more than anything, we’re going to sit back and enjoy watching an elite player in her final collegiate season with only one accomplishment left on her list: a national championship.
If you like this content, please support our work at Her Hoop Stats by subscribing for just $20 a year. Stats are compiled from Her Hoop Stats, NCAA, and WNBA and reflect games through Sunday, December 8.
