Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu is returning to the court just in time for the 2026 WNBA season.
Ionescu is among the 15 players set to participate in USA Basketball’s training camp in Phoenix this week, the organization announced Tuesday.
It’ll be her first time playing in an official team setting since the Liberty’s season ended in the first round of the playoffs. Ionescu sat out the Unrivaled season with an unspecified injury, though she’s been training on her own throughout the offseason.
Two injured players attending camp, which runs from Wednesday through Friday, are USC forward JuJu Watkins, who missed this past season with an ACL tear and will be a limited participant, and Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, who had surgery on both ankles earlier this year and was also sidelined for Unrivaled’s season, who will not participate in on-court activities.
Collier was spotted last week at her annual Hopkins basketball camp in Minnesota with a cast on her left leg.
Others expected to join include four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers and former Liberty forward Kayla Thornton, who played for the Valkyries last season.
Monique Billings, Cameron Brink, Rae Burell, Veronica Burton, Stefanie Dolson, Rickea Jackson, Azura Stevens, Brittney Sykes and Mikayla Blakes round out the 15-player roster, which Duke coach Kara Lawson is leading.
U.S. women’s national team managing director Sue Bird will be on site to evaluate players in preparation for the 2026 FIBA World Cup, scheduled for Sept. 4-16 in Berlin, Germany.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
