Ruthy Hebard heads to Chicago as the No. 8 pick in the WNBA draft

Ruthy Hebard got a parade and a new job Friday in Fairbanks.

A couple of hours before a welcome-home parade scheduled in her honor, Hebard watched with her family in Fairbanks as the Chicago Sky made her the eighth pick in Friday afternoon’s WNBA draft.

She’s the first Alaskan selected in the women’s basketball draft since Chugiak’s Kelsey Griffin was the No. 3 pick in 2010, and she’ll be the fifth to play in the WNBA, joining Griffin, Jessica Moore of Palmer, Molly Tuter of Soldotna and Andrea Lloyd of Juneau.

A 6-foot-4 power forward, Hebard recently wrapped up a brilliant four-year career at the University of Oregon, where she recorded 2,368 points, 1,299 rebounds and 146 blocked shots — totals that are the highest in history by an Alaska woman in Division I basketball.

A first-team All-America selection, Hebard was one of three Ducks to go in the top 8 of Friday’s draft.

Point guard Sabrina Ionescu was the No. 1 pick, taken by the New York Liberty. Satou Sabally, a small forward, was chosen No. 2 by the Dallas Wings.

Ionescu and Hebard were the Stockton and Malone of women’s college basketball in recent years, with Hebard on the receiving end of many Ionescu passes.

Once she got the ball, she knew what to do with it — Hebard shot an NCAA-best 68.5% this season, making 252 of 368 of her field goal attempts. She averaged 17.3 points and 9.6 rebounds in 33 games for the Ducks, who finished 31-2 and were ranked No. 2 in the season’s final national poll.

Hebard won’t have Ionescu to feed her the ball in Chicago, but she will have Courtney Vandersloot, a point guard who was a 2019 All-WNBA first-team pick and is a two-time WNBA all star. Vandersloot played in college at Gonzaga, where she was coached by Kelly Graves — who has since moved to Oregon, where he built a national powerhouse with Hebard and Ionescu.

“I already got a text from (Vandersloot),” Hebard told reporters Friday. “So I’m really excited Chicago picked me and I can’t wait to work with my new teammates.”

A high school star at West Valley, Hebard was slated to be honored Friday night in Fairbanks with a brief 7 p.m. “car parade” on Sandvik Street, starting at old University Park and ending at West Valley.

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