WNBA Free Agency: Liberty Ex Jocelyn Willoughby Signs Camp Deal With Sun
The Connecticut Sun announced the signing of Jocelyn Willoughby, a 2020 WNBA first-round pick, to a training camp contract on Monday, ending her New York Liberty tenure after three seasons.
Brandon Todd, New York Liberty
Willoughby, 25, came to New York in a trade with the Phoenix Mercury during the 2020 draft, one of seven acquisitions for the Liberty that night. As one of the team's freshman standouts in the Bradenton bubble, Willoughby put up flashes of brilliance in a trying campaign as one of only three New Yorkers to appear in all 22 games of that season.
In five starts, Willoughby averaged 9.4 points and 3.6 rebounds. In one of the of those starts, Willoughby tied a single-game New York record for most three-point tries without a miss, sharing it with Crystal Robinson Becky Hammon, Nicole Powell, and Candice Wiggins.
Injuries ate away at any true impact Willoughby was seeking to make: she was destined to appear in the Liberty starting five during her sophomore season but tore her Achilles during a preseason scrimmage, which sidelined her for the entire 2021 campaign. The East Orange, NJ native scored 13 points off the bench in the following year's opener but knee surgery limited her to only 11 games.
After the Liberty bringing in several high-profile free agents, Willoughby came off the bench this season, averaging 1.2 points in just over six minutes a game. She had another double-figure outing in a September win in Chicago, scoring 10 while pulling in four rebounds.
Despite the setbacks, Willoughby was an active member of the New York community, notably landing the WNBA Cares Community Assist Award at the end of the 2022 season "for her commitment to challenging racial and economic injustices, and providing resources to help vulnerable individuals in New York and society at large."
With Willoughby set to compete for a roster spot in Connecticut, the Liberty have only one player left from their 2020 haul in the form of Sabrina Ionescu. Most of the others helped the Liberty pave the path to their current "superteam" setting: for example, ninth overall pick Megan Walker was later traded to Phoenix for the pick that eventually begot 2021 WNBA Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere, who was later dealt to Phoenix to clear financial space for the elite newcomers like Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, and Courtney Vandersloot.
