As the horn buzzed to signal the end of the first quarter in the Ducks’ season-opening exhibition game against Saint Martin’s, a squad of Oregon legends walked onto the floor.
Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally, Ruthy Hebard, and Minyon Moore were making their return to Matthew Knight Arena on the same night that fans were welcomed back into attendance. Ironically, the celebration and jubilation felt by Oregon faithful might have brought regret and a lacking sense of closure for these four players.
When speaking to the media at halftime of the game, Ionescu put her feelings into words, noting that returning to the floor that she created so many memories on did not bring with it a sense of closure for the abrupt and heartbreaking end to the 2020 season. In fact, it was quite the contrary.
"No, there will never be closure. We were supposed to win a National Championship." -Sabrina Ionescu.
Said she still fells like part of the team being back in Eugene.
— Zachary Neel (@zacharycneel) October 29, 2021
If you allow yourself to travel back to March of 2020, you’ll remember a scary time where the world was shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With it came the cancelation of both the men’s and women’s NCAA Basketball Tournaments.
This had a significant impact on the sporting world, of course, but especially for Ionescu and the Ducks’ team. They were 31-2 on the season, and poised for a No. 1 seed in the tournament. Ionescu was at the peak of her powers; Hebard was dominant down low, and Sabally was showing why she is considered a unicorn talent in the sport.
The three would later go on to be drafted all within the top-10 of the 2020 WNBA draft — Sabrina at No. 1, Satou at No. 2, and Ruthy at No. 8 — but no matter what they accomplish at the next level, their accolades will always be lacking something. They will always have to look back and wonder what could have been in March of 2020.
There isn’t much that can change that going forward. All have had some major success at the WNBA level already. Satou was named to the WNBA All-Star game this year, and Ruthy recently won a championship with the Chicago Sky. Though she has dealt with injuries in her young career, it’s impossible to look anywhere and not see Sabrina’s face on some advertisement or another.
But all of the riches can’t make the past perfect. Through no fault of their own, the 2020 Ducks will be left with a hole in their trophy case.
You might think that returning to where it all began would have allowed Ionescu to come to terms with that and make peace. However, knowing the fierce competitor that she is, it had the opposite effect.
“There will never be closure.”
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