Oregon Ducks coach Kelly Graves may opt to hire one of his former players, whether he was being serious or not, given his team’s most recent victory in the 2025-26 season. On Tuesday, Jan. 6, Graves and the rest of this year’s Ducks team went up against coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s USC Trojans in the latter’s home floor, the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California, in the hopes of getting their 14th win of the year.
One standout individual who watched the game then was actually former Oregon guard and now New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu, who sat courtside with her husband, Hroniss Grasu. Luckily for Ionescu and the rest of the Oregon faithful, the Ducks ended up winning the affair by five points, 71-66. With this, her former coach in Graves admitted that he feels like Ionescu’s presence was a factor in the win, as he may even consider hiring her.
“Oregon head coach Kelly Graves had jokes after Sabrina helped fire up his squad 😂 The Ducks secured the win over USC with Oregon legend Sabrina Ionescu sitting courtside 😤 (via Oregon postgame radio),” @espnw on Instagram captioned with a couple of emojis.
“[Sabrina Ionescu] kind of lit the kids up a little bit at halftime. Maybe I’ve got to hire her,” Graves was quoted as saying.
– Kelly Graves, January 7, 2026
The post by @espnw on Instagram has since been reposted by Ionescu on her own Instagram stories.
Following the victory, the Ducks have now earned their 14th win of the current campaign to improve to an overall record of 14-3 (2-2 Big Ten), as they now sit as the 10th seed in the Big Ten conference momentarily. It seems as though coach Graves and the rest of his team were able to use the momentum gained in their last victory against the Trojans as they now look to do the same against the Michigan State Spartans on Sunday, Jan. 11.
USC Trojans Guard Jazzy Davidson Rocked Sabrina Ionescu’s Shoes Against The Oregon Ducks
Along with coach Kelly Graves and the rest of the Oregon Ducks faithful acknowledging one of their greatest alumni members ever in Sabrina Ionescu, a star from the opposition, Jazzy Davidson, also did the same to the WNBA All-Star.
“Jazzy Davidson rocking the Sabrina 3s with @sabrina_i sitting court side for Oregon-USC 🤩,” @cbbonfox wrote with an emoji.
– @cbbonfox on Instagram, January 7, 2026
This is because a post by @cbbonfox on Instagram on the same day shows that Davidson, despite hailing from the USC Trojans, was wearing a pair of Ionescu’s signature shoes, the Nike Sabrina 3.
Read More:
Sonia Citron Shares Surreal Sabrina Ionescu Moment After WNBA Draft Text: ‘I Was Shocked’
Sabrina Ionescu Says Paige Bueckers Deserves Her Own Signature Shoe
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