You guys just can't let this go? Did she beat some of your daughters in High School?
Yes there is hyperbole, kind of like Rocco already being a top 5 QB in the nation next year. Iowa/CC keep selling out arenas in other states even though nobody outside of Iowa even knows who she is?
According to Ducks coach Kelly Graves, in 2019 Ionescu had "a chance to be a Marcus Mariota, that level of player and an esteemed Oregon Duck when it's all said and done." He noted that attendance at Oregon women's games had dramatically increased during Ionescu's career at the school. In the season before she arrived, the average announced home attendance for the Ducks was 1,501. Her sophomore season saw an average attendance of over 4,200; it went up to over 7,100 in her junior season and over 10,000 in her senior season. Ionescu was also a significant draw when Oregon went on the road; for example, when the Ducks visited Washington during her junior season, the crowd for that game was 3,000 more than the Huskies drew two nights earlier against Oregon State.
Graves' remarks about Ionescu's future iconic status at Oregon proved to be prophetic. Shortly after the premature end of her senior season (caused by the COVID-19 pandemic), the university polled fans on social media, asking them to name the four Oregon alumni they would put on a notional Mount Rushmore for the university. According to a 2020 story in the university's web journal Around the O, more than 70 suggestions were provided, but the four top choices were Mariota, Steve Prefontaine, Phil Knight, and Ionescu.
She is the NCAA all-time leader in career triple-doubles and the only NCAA Division I basketball player to record 2,000 points, 1,000 assists, and 1,000 rebounds in a career.
She was a featured speaker at the memorial service for Kobe Bryant, who had become a close personal friend.
