After two and a half years of watching from the sidelines, Oregon redshirt sophomore Sedona Prince will finally have her chance to impact the game the way she wants to.
From a broken leg, to surgeries, to legal challenges, Prince has had her share of hurdles.
Graduating in 2018 from Liberty High School in Texas, Prince has yet to step on the court to begin her collegiate career. After being named a McDonald’s High School All-American, the No. 8 player in the class of 2018 was bound to make an impact.
The 6-foot-7 forward initially signed with her hometown Texas Longhorns, but was sidelined her entire freshman season due to a broken right leg injury. She underwent several surgeries in the following year, leading up to her arrival in Oregon right before she transferred.
After transferring, the NCAA denied her appeal for immediate eligibility and she was forced to watch from the sideline for the season.
In June of 2020, Prince filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and the Power five Conferences to challenge collegiate athletes’ names, image and likeness restrictions. In September, the NCAA filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit she filed, but the fight is still ongoing.
“I have such a greater purpose to play basketball now, and being through all that has given me such a great passion for the game,” Prince said.
Despite not playing a single minute of college basketball, Prince was named to the Preseason All Pac-12 this season. Head coach Kelly Graves even compared her skillset to that of NBA All-Star Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
“It’s just not a hyperbole, I really think that about her,” head coach Kelly Graves said. “She’s got such a unique skill set.”
The Ducks lost a bulk of their frontcourt talent in Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard, giving Prince the opportunity to make an impact down low.
“One thing I feel like that’s so different about Sedona in regards to the other posts I’ve played with here at Oregon is, that when she has the ball in a pitch action she can make the decision whether to drive baseline, drive to the hoop, pass it, to shoot it, she’s extremely versatile,” said guard Taylor Chavez.
The power forward is a unique threat: If she’s doubled in the post, she can kick it out to sharpshooters on the perimeter. If she has single coverage, her ability to finish one-on-one coverage could be unstoppable.
“If you put Sedona in the middle, you can’t double team her,” Chavez said. “I don’t think there’s another post that can guard her on the block in the country. It’s a perfect storm.”
Powered by deadly perimeter shooting and Prince’s inside-out capabilities in the middle, the Ducks look to reload heading into the 2020 season with her as their anchor.
