KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In a season ending loss to Belmont in round one of the NCAA Tournament, Nyara Sabally played arguably the best game of her career, scoring 31 points paired with 12 rebounds and seven blocks.
The game could serve as a strong closing to an otherwise frustrating career at Oregon riddled with injuries. Although Sabally is a senior, she is yet to declare for the WNBA draft, where she has been projected as high as the fourth pick in the draft by Bleacher Report. She retains an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” Sabally said prior to Saturday’s game. “I’m really just focused on ending the season… The decision will be made after the games are played.”
In limited availability this season as she battled lingering leg injuries, Sabally averaged 15.4 points and 7.8 rebounds nightly in an All-Pac-12 campaign.
In Saturday’s loss, she shot 50% from the floor, taking 24 of Oregon’s 74 shorts on the evening, most of which came despite commanding a double team. Showcasing her ability to completely take games over to WNBA scouts and potential collegiate competition, she worked from the high to low post and through traffic with physicality, getting to her signature short hook shot.
“It was a good game,” Sabally said. “It looks good on paper… I know it’s probably good for my stats.”
Retention of Sabally would be monumental for Kelly Graves’ Ducks. Center Sedona Prince has already committed to returning for the 2022-23 season. Reuniting her with Sabally would potentially keep Oregon’s entire starting lineup from this season intact.
“Nyara and I have a really close bond,” Prince said. “We have been through a lot together.”
The Ducks have a young core including All-Conference guards Te-Hina Paopao and Endyia Rogers, who pair with Sabally to form Graves’ “Big Three.” The trio averages 43.3 points per game this season, good for over 60% of the team’s scoring production.
“We’ve got to either just get in the gym and be better for what we have, or go get some others,” Graves said. “I think what we have is enough.”
Whether Prince stays or goes, Oregon women’s basketball will be formidable in the future. The Ducks rank top-five in the recruiting class of 2022, (No. 2 on ESPN) headlined by 5-star point guard Chance Gray, the highest ranking player in Oregon women’s basketball history. She will be joined by fellow McDonald’s All-American forward Grace VanSlooten. Oregon also picked up four-star talents Jennah Isai and Kennedy Basham.
If Sabally stays, she will be reunited with practically all of her teammates from this season should they decide to return and forgo the ever more-utilized transfer portal, along with the new crop of talent harvested by Graves. If she leaves, she will be the first Duck to turn pro since Sabrina Ionescu, older sister Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard all were lottery picks in the 2020 WNBA draft.
Either way, Oregon women’s basketball will look for growth from its current core and rejuvenation from its pool of incoming freshmen to power a more promising tournament run in 2023. Sabally could be the difference between the Ducks being championship contenders and favorites.
