Oregon Ducks News: Sabrina, Satou among leaders in WNBA fan vote, baseball adds a righty, Ryder Lyons decides

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Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally (0) and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) are two of the leaders in fan voting for the WNBA All-Star team. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally (0) and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) are two of the leaders in fan voting for the WNBA All-Star team. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

Two Duck favorites top WNBA fan voting

Fan voting for the WNBA All-Star Game ends June 28th, and right now two former Ducks are among the Top 20 vote-getters for the annual clash, slated for Saturday, July 19 on ABC.

Oregon greats Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally rank No. 8 and No. 12 on the fan ballots. The top two players are chosen as captains and get to pick their teammates from the pool of selected players.

The current standings in fan voting:

1. Caitlin Clark, Guard (IND) 515,993

2. Napheesa Collier, Frontcourt (MIN) 484,758

3. Aliyah Boston, Frontcourt (IND) 446,961

4. A’ja Wilson, Frontcourt (LVA) 394,600

5. Breanna Stewart, Frontcourt (NYL) 367,819

6. Paige Bueckers, Guard (DAL) 312,920

7. Kelsey Mitchell, Guard (IND) 277,664

8. Sabrina Ionescu, Guard (NYL) 234,684

9. Lexie Hull, Guard (IND), 217,438

10. Kiki Iriafen, Frontcourt (WAS) 213,500

11. Kelsey Plum, Guard (LAS) 204,845

12 Satou Sabally, Frontcourt (PHX) 175,611

13. Angel Reese, Frontcourt (CHI) 173,363

14. Allisha Gray, Guard (ATL) 168,349

15. Jonquel Jones, Frontcourt (NYL) 162,259

16. Natasha Howard, Frontcourt (IND) 158,331

17. Gabby Williams, Frontcourt (SEA) 144,257

18. Nneka Ogwumike, Frontcourt (SEA) 141,596

19. Dearica Hamby, Frontcourt (LAS) 105,727

20. Rickea Jackson, Frontcourt (LAS) 97,767

Ionescu earned three-time Unanimous All-American honors as a Duck, the John Wooden Award in 2019 and 2020, the first player in NCAA history (male or female) with 2,000 career points (2,562), 1,000 career rebounds (1,040) and 1,000 career assists (1,091). The New York Liberty drafted her No. 1 overall in 2020.

From Berlin, Germany, the 6-4 Sabally won the Cheryl Miller Award as the nation's top small forward in 2020, picked second overall in the first round that year by the Dallas Wings. She finished her Oregon career as the No. 7 career scorer in team history with 1,508 points.

Baseball adds a righty arm from JUCO

With the Ducks' pitching staff losing Grayson Grinsell, Seth Mattox, Jaxon Jordan and Julien Hernandez, head coach Mark Wasikowski needed to add some hurlers.

Sunday he picked up a commitment from Blake Sandvik, a 5-10 righthander from Des Moines, Washington and Everett Community College.

Sandvik posted a 1.95 ERA for the Trojans this year, striking out 75 in 74 innings. He's got a live fast ball and a sinker he throws 86-89 mph, keeping hitters off balance.

Decision day for Ryder Lyons, more disappointment for Duck fans

The No. 3 prospect and No. 2 quarterback in the nation in the 2026 class, Ryder Lyons announces his commitment today after visiting the Ducks on June 13 and the BYU Cougars June 20.

A host of national recruiting analysts have predicted he'll choose BYU, making him the Ducks' third miss at quarterback in the 2026 cycle.

First they had Jonas Williams decommit and commit to USC. On May 5 Jared Curtis picked Georgia over Oregon. Today Lyons is likely to go to the Cougars, where his father played cornerback and his mother also went to school.

He's scheduled to announce at 9 a.m. on the Pat McAfee Show.

Dan Lanning, Will Stein and the Oregon staff pivot to Bryson Beaver and Matt Ponatoski, a pair of four-star quarterbacks that visited this weekend.

In the 2025 class they signed 6-6 dual threat Akili Smith Jr., a four-star from Lincoln High School in San Diego who threw for 6,900 yards as a three-year high school starter and scored four touchdowns to win the 2024 California State 1-AA Championship.

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