One of the country’s most coveted recruits, a two-time gold medalist for USA Basketball, and USA Today’s National Player of the Year has signed a grant-in-aid agreement with Oregon women’s basketball.
Sabrina Ionescu — the nation’s top guard — verbally committed and signed with the Ducks on Sunday afternoon, adding to an already talented 2016 class and becoming the highest-ranked prospect in program history.
“I’m around a good program, good coaches and great teammates around me,” Ionescu said in a phone interview with the Emerald Sunday night. “I think a great school overall. That helps me feel like I’m at home here.”
She’s ranked No. 4 nationally by ESPN HoopGurlz and No. 3 overall by ProspectsNation.com.
Ionescu said she drove to Matthew Knight Arena on Sunday, surprising head coach Kelly Graves.
“I literally just walked up. I didn’t really say anything,” Ionescu said. “I pulled out some papers and signed them. I didn’t do it too big. I’m not really that type of person.”
Ionescu said associate head coach Mark Campbell was the only staffer in the loop.
“It’s been a long journey with her,” Campbell said. “I’m humbled and grateful for the opportunity to coach her. She’s going to be a great addition to her fellow freshmen and the returners that we have coming back.”
The 6-foot native of Walnut Creek, California chose the Ducks over Washington. Earlier this year, she had narrowed her choices to Oregon State, California and Oregon.
“Her basketball IQ is incredible,” Graves said. “She sees the game differently than most players. She’s ahead of what’s happening on the court. This is a great day. This was a great Father’s Day.”
Her comittment garnered plenty of national attention from national media members and message boards.

“I think honestly it was just fuel to the fire,” Ionescu said of the comments. “It made me want to not prove myself, but prove what I’m about. I said a year ago, I was going to take my time and wait until the end to make a decision and people that pressured me obviously didn’t believe in what I was saying.”
She graduated from Miramonte High School last week. Her club and high school coach since third grade, Kelly Sopak, said last year of Ionescu: “She was definitely born with a gift, but her work ethic and her honing of her craft is really what’s made her the player that she is today.”
Ionescu and Sopak have worked together since her early years on the basketball court.
“Just having him definitely helped me throughout,” Ionescu said. “He guided me and helped me grow as an individual throughout this process.”
She averaged 25.3 points, 8.8 assists, 7.6 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 1.3 blocks a game en route to being named All-USA Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
She’s the seventh verbal commitment of the class for Graves and his staff. The class includes includes 6-foot-1 guard Jayde Woods (Yorba Linda, California), 6-3 forward Sierra Campisano (San Diego, California), 6-4 post Mallory McGwire (Reno, Nevada), 5-9 guard Morgan Yaeger (Forestville, Australia), 6-foot-4 forward Ruthy Hebard (Fairbanks, Alaska) and 6-5 center Lydia Giomi (Seattle, Washinton).
The class was ranked seventh nationally by espnW.
Dan Olson, director of espnW rankings, said in May that adding Ionescu would likely move Oregon to No. 4 overall.
“She takes (recruiting) classes and puts them into another stratosphere,” Olson said. “This kid is a winner. She’s a tough competitor who doesn’t care about how many points she scores. She can outscore all of the kids. … She’s a game-changer.”
Ionescu will take summer classes starting Monday morning along with the program’s other 2016 signees.
“I’m ready to take it on,” Ionescu said. “I’m ready to kind of enjoy everything that comes along with being a Duck. I honestly just honored and happy to be a part of a great program. I’m so excited to see what the future holds.
“It’s definitely nice not being asked 60 times a day where I was going to college. Now it’s kind of finally a new chapter is opening.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne