WNBA All-Star Sabrina Ionescu surprises Maddie Scherr with signature shoes

If you follow women’s basketball at all (or really just college hoops in general), you’ve probably heard the name Sabrina Ionescu a handful of times by now. Ionescu played for Oregon from 2016-2020, and she dominated in her time there. She was a 3x All-American, 3x Pac-12 Player of the Year, and 2x Wooden Award winner while leading the Ducks to two Elite Eights and a Final Four during her stint in Eugene.

After her illustrious collegiate career came to a close, Ionescu would be selected with the first pick of the 2020 WNBA Draft by the New York Liberty. Since being drafted, the former Oregon Duck has only continued her dominance on the professional stage. Ionescu is a 2x WNBA All-Star who is coming off a year in which she averaged 17.0 points and 5.4 assists per game while shooting a blistering 44.8% from beyond the arc.

This is all to say that Ionescu is an incredibly talented player, and as the old saying goes, talent recognizes talent. Kentucky guard Maddie Scherr was gifted a pair of Ionescu’s signature shoes — the Nike Sabrina 1s — as a notice of her hard work and ability on the hardwood.

Inside the shoe box, a message to Scherr read:

“For those who love the game as much as I do…

For the hardest workers, relentless dream seekers, and for those paving the way.

For those who work tirelessly to perfect their craft without ever looking at the clock.

This shoe is for you, on your pursuit to becoming the best you can be.”

Ionescu gifted Scherr a pair of light pink Sabrina 1s, which come in a variation of colors. The shoes are currently selling for $100-130 on Nike’s official website. As mentioned earlier, Ionescu played at Oregon, and so did Scherr. The senior spent her first two seasons of college basketball in Eugene before ultimately transferring to Kentucky to play for her home state ‘Cats.

Maybe, just maybe, this will be the start of an Ionescu-esque run for Scherr here at the tail end of the season.