Name Image Likeness

Oregon Football Pays Homage to Sabrina Ionescu During Season Opener

The Ducks walked into the stadium wearing Ionescu's signature shoe, the Nike Sabrina 1

Noah Henderson

Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu waves to the sold out crowd during the post game program for seniors after the end of the regular season.
Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu waves to the sold out crowd during the post game program for seniors after the end of the regular season. / Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard via Imagn Content Services, LLC
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The New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu has had quite a busy Labor Day weekend. On Friday, the two-time All-WNBA guard showed out with a 25 point, 8 assists, 8 rebound performance in a route of the Seattle Storm. The next day, Ionescu made the 280-mile trip to her alma mater, the University of Oregon, to watch the football team’s season opener against the University of Idaho.  

Ionescu showed up to Autzen Stadium with her recently acquired Olympic Gold Medal around her neck and was met with adoration from all Ducks fans in attendance who take pride in all the accomplishments she made in an Oregon jersey and now as one of the prominent faces of the WNBA. Beyond the love shown by the fans, the football team presented their own sign of respect for the most decorated player in Oregon women’s basketball history. 

During the walk-in for the game, Ducks football players were seen wearing the Oregon colorway of Sabrina Ionescu’s signature shoe, the Nike Sabrina 1.  

The sensational rise of Caitlin Clark and the exceptional 2024 WNBA draft class has pushed investment in women’s athletics to new heights. But before Caitlin Clark exploded to historic fame, Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu captivated the nation, boosted viewership and attendance during every game she played, and cemented her spot as one of several athletes who paved the way for the upswing of women’s sport. 

Any basketball fan was well aware of Ionescu’s historic senior campaign, where she averaged 17.5 points, 9.1 assists, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals on her way to locking up a second consecutive Wooden award. Ionescu remains the collegiate career triple-double leader, achieving the feat 26 times; the only other player to reach a double-digit total is Caitlin Clark with 11. 

Football’s vice-grip on being the most prominent piece of American culture will remain uncontested; however, this moment is significant in the progression of the validation of women’s sport. The more that athletes who have traditionally held vast media coverage and fan adoration, like Oregon football players, acknowledge the achievements of historically less popular sports, the more these athletes become legitimized by sports fans. 

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Noah Henderson

NOAH HENDERSON

Professor Noah Henderson teaches in the sport management department at Loyola University Chicago. Outside the classroom, he advises companies, schools, and collectives on Name, Image, and Likeness best practices. His academic research focuses on the intersection of law, economics, and social consequences regarding college athletics, NIL, and sports gambling. Before teaching, Prof. Henderson was part of a team that amended Illinois NIL legislation and managed NIL collectives at the nation’s most prominent athletic institutions while working for industry leader Student Athlete NIL. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Economics from Saint Joseph’s University, where he was a four-year letter winner on the golf team. Prof. Henderson is a native of San Diego, California, and a former golf CIF state champion with Torrey Pines High School. Outside of athletics, he enjoys playing guitar, hanging out with dogs, and eating California burritos. You can follow him on Twitter: @NoahImgLikeness. 

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