Ionescu ‘saddened’ at Oregon ending

The most productive oncourt career in the history of college basketball essentially ended Thursday when the NCAA canceled postseason tournaments amid the coronavirus pandemic, but Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu waited until this week to make it official.

“This year has been the toughest year of my life, and I wasn’t expecting to have to end my senior year like this. Very saddened but whole heartedly understand,” Ionescu posted via her Instagram account Monday night. “To my teammates, coaches, fans and the University of Oregon, thank you for providing me with the best 4 years of my life. Although our unfinished business will remain just that, I have been blessed to be a part of this journey. Thank you for all the memories that I will forever hold close to my heart.”

The Chronicle’s twotime AllMetro Player of the Year while at Miramonte High in Orinda, Ionescu went on to Oregon where she shattered records and became the face of college basketball.

Ionescu is the only player (female or male) in NCAA history with 2,000 points (2,562), 1,000 rebounds (1,040) and 1,000 assists (1,091) and more than doubled college basketball’s previous record for tripledoubles.

The 5foot11 guard recorded 26 tripledoubles in 142 games. It took BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth 140 games to record 12 tripledoubles.

Ionescu’s No. 20 jersey will one day hang in the rafters at Oregon, where she is the alltime leader in points, 3pointers (329) and doubledigit scoring games (134) and surpassed Gary Payton’s former assists record by 153.

But her career will always include “unfinished business.”

She turned down a chance at being the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft last year to return to Oregon for a senior season she hoped would include winning the Pac12 title, conference tournament and NCAA championship.

On Tuesday, the Associated Press released its final Top 25 poll. Oregon finished No. 2, highest in program history. South Carolina was No. 1 and Stanford No. 7.

On Feb. 24, Ionescu recorded her final college tripledouble, in a win at Stanford, hours after speaking at the memorial service of Kobe and Gianna Bryant at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Five days later, Oregon clinched its third straight Pac12 title.

The Ducks won the Pac12 tournament this month and were poised to make a run at the national title as the projected No. 1 seed out of the Portland regional.

On Monday night, Ionescu made her Instagram post with the signoff: “20, out.”