Will there be a statue of Sabrina Ionescu at the University of Oregon?
Nyara Sabally and Oregon coach Kelly Graves joke about what a Sabrina Ionescu statue might look like after the New York Liberty vs. Toyota Antelopes game.
Top-30 combo guard Brooklynn Haywood announced her verbal pledge to Oregon women’s basketball and coach Kelly Graves on social media Aug. 21, marking the highest-ranked commit to date for the 2026 Ducks class.
A standout at Union High in Vancouver, Wash., and an Alaska native, Haywood is the second commitment in Graves’ 2026 class after La’u Pele Falatea committed in late June.
Ranked as the 26th-best prospect in the 2026 class and labeled a four-star recruit by ESPN, Haywood led the state of Washington in scoring as a junior, averaging 31.4 points per game while shooting over 40% from 3-point range. Haywood eclipsed 2,000 career points late in the season and has a real shot at breaking Hailey Van Lith’s all-time Washington state scoring record of 2,994.
Haywood said Graves’ ability to develop point guards and her relationship with Ducks assistant coach Jerise Freeman and sophomore point guard Katie Fiso, a Seattle native, ultimately led to her commitment to Oregon.
“I felt like when I asked (Freeman) about Oregon and asked about their culture and their family, she was really honest with me,” Haywood said. “I really trust what she says. So coaching staff was a big one and also the fact that Katie’s on the team and I’m going to be able to play with her again. It’s really close to where home is, too … that was a big part also.”
Haywood said that Freeman’s energy matched up with her own on the several visits she took to Oregon and Utah, where Freeman previously served as an assistant coach before being hired by the Ducks in 2024.
“I just noticed her energy right away,” Haywood said. “In practice she was constantly yelling, talking, hyping people up and it just made the girls work harder. So me and her kind of connected off of that … It’s been like two and a half years of us talking on the phone for hours and things like that.”
Though Haywood now plays for Nike EYBL travel club Cal Stars, she played with Fiso for the Seattle-based club Tree of Hope as a freshman.
The opportunity to play with Fiso again, whom Haywood called her “big sister” while traveling around the country and playing high-level hoops as a freshman, was also a big pull for the rising senior.
“She was always hyping me up and always there for me,” Haywood said. “I just really love playing with her.”
The Anchorage, Alaska-born hooper moved to Vancouver in 2023, just ahead of the start of her high school career at Union. She said she grew up idolizing Sabrina Ionescu and fellow Alaska native Ruthy Hebard and their “deadly” pick and roll as a little girl, as well as former Utah star and WNBA player Alissa Pili.
Haywood’s father was an assistant coach for Pili at Dimond High in Anchorage.
She said to this day, all the players who eventually moved on to play NCAA Division I hoops from Alaska continue to motivate her.
As for goals for the upcoming season, Haywood said she wants to take her high school team as far as they can while continuing to develop her lethal shot and ball handling.
“I’d say I’m a shooter, but I’m not just a shooter, I’m a playmaker,” Haywood said. “I can find my teammates wide-open shots or I can get myself open shots. So just creating for others and myself. I also play with a lot of energy and I’m a really good teammate, too.”
Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Bluesky and X.