Liberty Sign 2022 1st-Rounder Nyara Sabally
The New York Liberty announced the signing of Nyara Sabally on Tuesday, inking the fifth overall pick of the 2022 WNBA Draft to a rookie scale contract.
Sabally, who turned 23 on Sunday, did not play last season due to a right knee injury. She's set to join a Liberty squad with a roster that looks far different from the ledger upon her New York entry, one that added Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, and Courtney Vandersloot to a group that already includes All-Stars Betnijah Laney and Sabally's fellow Oregon alumna Sabrina Ionescu.
In her final season in Eugene, Sabally averaged 15.4 points and 7.8 rebounds a game as the Ducks reached the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament for the fifth consecutive season. Her sister Satou, also a former Duck, entered the WNBA alongside Ionescu, going immediately after her as the second overall pick of the 2020 draft.
The younger Sabally has kept busy over the offseason, serving as an assistant coach for Sacramento State's women's basketball team and working under head coach and former Oregon assistant Mark Campbell. With Sabally's help, the Hornets currently sit in third place in the Big Sky Conference and will begin the trek toward their first NCAA Tournament berth next Monday night against Idaho (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+).
Sabally expressed great interest in immediate connections upon her New York arrival, noting she can plenty from an interior threat like Stefanie Dolson, who will return for her second season with the team. Jones also comes over after seven historic seasons with the Connecticut Sun. After the Liberty's 2022 season ended, Laney expressed excitement at seeing Sabally join the New York rotation, believing she'd pair well with incumbent paint representatives Dolson and Han Xu.
“Nyara is obviously a post player with huge potential to compliment the great team that we have,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said shortly after Sabally's arrival. “Her skillset is something that we feel will only add to the pieces that we have here in New York.”
The 2023 New York Liberty season opens on May 19 in the nation's capital against the Washington Mystics.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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