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Tag: NCAA Women

  • Sabrina Ionescu Joins Oregon Ducks In Part-Time Role

    Sabrina Ionescu Joins Oregon Ducks In Part-Time Role

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    New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu rejoins her alma mater as the director of athletic culture, the program announced Friday.

    Ionescu’s role includes assisting with the development of student-athletes and cultivating head coach Kelly Graves’ five pillars of Oregon women’s basketball: passion, integrity, unity, thankfulness and servanthood.

    “Sabrina exemplifies what it means to be an Oregon Duck and she represents everything our program is about. Even in just a part-time capacity, she will have the ability to make an immediate impact on our student-athletes and our program as a whole,” Graves said in the press release. “She truly is a basketball icon that will be able to connect and develop our players off the court.”

    Ionescu completed her third season in the WNBA and was named a WNBA All-Star starter for the summer event hosted by the Chicago Sky in July. She won the WNBA Skills Competition held the afternoon before.

    “As a kid growing up in the game, my family helped me develop my passion for basketball and all the values it rewards, ” Ionescu said in the release. “When I arrived at Oregon, I joined a new family that embraced those same values and helped me grow even more as a player and as a person. Part of my heart remains in Eugene, and I look forward to cultivating the same family atmosphere for future Ducks in the Oregon women’s basketball program.”

    This will mark her third WNBA offseason spent in the United States, as opposed to heading overseas as many professional women’s basketball players do. Ionescu’s first two offseasons were primarily spent recovering from injuries.

    MORE FROM FORBESSabrina’s Ionescu’s Triple-Double And The Liberty’s Hot Start Suggest New York Is Ready To ContendBy Erica L. Ayala

    “I’m super excited to have a healthy offseason and just be able to train. I don’t think I really realized how much that is a perk and how being able to train, play 5v5, just be a part of that healthy athlete mindset going into the season,” Ionescu told the media during the New York Liberty exit interviews on August 25.

    Being back in Eugene provides Ionescu, potentially, with a place to train in addition to a way to supplement her WNBA salary. While a student-athlete at Oregon, Ionescu was a two-time Wade and Wooden Trophy winner, and is the all-time NCAA leader in triple-doubles (26). She is also the only player in NCAA history with at least 2,000 career points, 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 career assists.

    Ionescu recently returned to campus for College Gameday where she was tapped as the Week 8 guest picker. She also showed off her personality and singing abilities in the process. The Oregon Ducks are 2-0 on the young NCAA season. They will host Seattle University tomorrow at 11:00 am PT.

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    Erica L. Ayala, Contributor

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  • Favre charity gave to USM while he sought funds

    Favre charity gave to USM while he sought funds

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    Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre’s charity, Favre 4 Hope, donated more than $130,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation from 2018 to 2020, according to tax records obtained by ESPN on Wednesday.

    During this same period, Favre was trying to raise money for a new volleyball stadium at the university, where he played football and his daughter was on the volleyball team. Funds for that stadium are under scrutiny in the largest public fraud case in Mississippi state history.

    Favre 4 Hope, whose mission statement says it provides support “for disadvantaged and disabled children and breast cancer patients,” receives public donations. Tax records show that in 2018, the foundation gave the USM Athletic Foundation $60,000. Every other organization received $10,000. In 2019, the USM Athletic Foundation received $46,817. The next highest donation, to the Special Olympics of Mississippi, was $11,000. The next year, Favre 4 Hope donated $26,175 to the USM Athletic Foundation while no other organization received more than $10,000.

    Between 2011 and 2017, the year his daughter enrolled at USM, Favre 4 Hope gave the Athletic Foundation a combined $47,900. (Tax records were not available for 2016.) In 2015, when Favre’s daughter played volleyball at Oak Grove High School, his foundation gave the school’s booster club $60,000, tax records show. In 2013, the booster club received $10,000 from Favre 4 Hope.

    “He has been very generous to Southern Miss since he played ball there,” Favre’s attorney Bud Holmes told ESPN on Wednesday evening. “Those particular things [the donations in question] I don’t know, but I know he has always given back, something most athletes don’t do.”

    The Athletic first reported the donations made by Favre’s charity to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation.

    Favre, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is involved in a sprawling investigation into Mississippi’s welfare spending. He received $1.1 million in speaking fees for appearances he allegedly never made, according to a state auditor. He said he did not know where the funds came from and paid the money back, though the state is still seeking $228,000 in interest. Text messages show Favre was also involved in diverting at least $5 million in welfare funds to the volleyball stadium.

    Favre has not been criminally charged. His attorney previously denied to Mississippi Today that the Hall of Famer knew he received welfare funds.

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