WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu got 'goosebumps' when players spoke out against inequality at the NCAA women's tournament
- Women's college basketball players combatted unequal treatment at this year's NCAA tournament.
- WNBA superstar Sabrina Ionescu said watching athletes speak out gave her "goosebumps."
- She told Insider about her reaction to the apparent inequity and the women's success in spite of it.
Sabrina Ionescu may have moved on from the NCAA, but the Oregon Ducks triple-double queen-turned-New York Liberty superstar is still a big fan of the college game.
So when apparent inequity between the men's and women's 2021 NCAA tournaments presented itself in the form of vastly different weight rooms, Ionescu was quick to use her platform to highlight the absurdity of the situation.
With her former Oregon teammate Sedona Prince leading the charge in speaking out against the NCAA's disparate treatment between its men's and women's basketball players, Ionescu said she felt an immense sense of pride for her former program and the women of the NCAA at large.
"It was awesome to get to see all the players and coaches and everyone speaking out about it," Ionescu told Insider while discussing her recent campaign for BODYARMOR. "It gave me goosebumps to just be able to see that no matter the fact that they were in a bubble, no matter the fact of whatever seed they were, they didn't care."
"They knew that they deserved better, that all of the women at the NCAA tournament deserve better," she added. "And they didn't mind speaking out about it, which is awesome."
Ionescu herself spoke out against various instances of inequality that bubbled up to the surface throughout her illustrious college basketball career. After dropping a 29-point triple-double during the NCAA tournament her junior year, she called out ESPN directly because it "never recognizes women's sports."
She later called out the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" for relegating the 2020 WNBA Draft to ESPN2. With the future No. 1 overall pick's help, ESPN heard the outcry from fans and players alike and moved the draft to its main channel.
"I did a lot last year and in the previous years that I was there with anything that was going on and didn't really care what anyone else thought," Ionescu said. "I was just going to speak my mind."
She was happy to watch this year's NCAA women's tournament thrive despite the disadvantages players, coaches, and others faced. In addition to the weight room discrepancy, The Wall Street Journal reported that the NCAA actively withheld powerful brand names like "March Madness" and "Big Dance" from use for the women's tournament.
Even still, the 2021 women's tournament garnered remarkable success in ratings and engagement despite a widespread drop in sports viewership since the start of the pandemic. While the men's championship game saw a 14% viewership dip compared to 2019 - the last NCAA tournament - the women's final saw more people tune in than in each of the past seven years. Ratings were up for the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and Final Four as well.
Ionescu attributed some of that success to the entire NCAA women's tournament being televised nationally on ESPN and that six games earned broadcast spots via ABC.
"It was awesome to be able to watch [players] show out in the NCAA tournament," Ionescu said. "And with a lot of people watching as well with them being on ESPN."
As the only player in Division I history to record 2,000 points, 1,000 assists, and 1,000 rebounds in a career, Ionescu knows a thing or two about what it takes to be a star at the collegiate level.
And even though she admits that she was mostly tuning in to this year's tournament to support her Ducks, she identified some young players outside of her alma mater who caught her eye during March Madness.
"The Pac-12 represented well, so Haley Jones and Cameron Brink from Stanford for sure," Ionescu said. "And then, of course, Paige Bueckers from UConn and Caitlin Clarke from Iowa. All those players had a great showout, and three of those players are really young!"