Nyara Sabally (born 26 February 2000) is a German professional basketball player for the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA) and

USK Prague USK Praha, ( cs, Univerzitní Sportovní Klub Praha, University Sports Club Prague), formerly known as Slavia VŠ Praha ( cs, Slavia Vysoké Školy Praha), is a Czech Republic, Czech professional basketball Club (organization), club that was fo ...

of the EuroLeague Women and the Czech women's basketball league. She also serves as assistant coach for

Sacramento State California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

. She played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. She represented

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

at the 2018 FIBA U18 Women's European Championship and won a gold medal.

Playing career

College

On 7 November 2017, Sabally signed with

. During the 2018–19 season in her freshman year, she sat out the season after suffering a torn ACL during the championship game of the 2018 FIBA U18 Women's European Championship in August of 2018. During the 2019–20 season in her redshirt freshman year, she re-tore her ACL in the summer of 2019 and missed a second consecutive season. During the 2020–21 season in her redshirt sophomore year, she played in 23 of Oregon's 24 games, making 21 starts. She led Oregon in scoring (12.9), rebounding (7.3), field goals (122), double-doubles (4) and double-figure scoring games (19). She ranked third in the Pac-12 in field-goal percentage (54.7), third in offensive rebounding (2.7), fourth in rebounding and tenth in scoring. Following the season she was named to the All-Pac-12 team. During the 2021–22 season in her redshirt junior year, she led the team in scoring and rebounding and finished sixth in the conference in scoring (15.4) and third in rebounding (7.8). She recorded eight double-doubles, and reached double figures in scoring in 19 of the 24 games. She became the first Pac-12 player since

Chiney Ogwumike Chinenye "Chiney" Ogwumike (born March 21, 1992) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 2020, she became the first Black woman and the first WNBA ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

to average at least 15 points, seven rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals and blocks over the course of a season. Following the season she was again named to the All-Pac-12 team. On 28 March 2022, Sabally declared for the 2022 WNBA draft. She finished her career at Oregon with 666 points, 354 rebounds and 87 assists in two seasons.

WNBA

On 11 April 2022, Sabally was drafted fifth overall by the

in the 2022 WNBA draft. On 15 April 2022, Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb announced Sabally would miss the

2022 WNBA season The 2022 WNBA season was the 26th season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Chicago Sky were the defending champions. The WNBA's second Commissioner's Cup took place during the regular season, with the Las Vegas Aces win ...

due to injury, after she aggravated her right knee, which has twice required surgery for a torn ACL. On 28 February 2023, Sabally signed a rookie scale contract with the Liberty.

National team career

Sabally made her international debut for

at the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women, where she averaged nine points, 13.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. She represented

at the 2018 FIBA U18 Women's European Championship, where she averaged 17.3 points, 12.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, and won a gold medal, and was named tournament MVP.

Coaching career

On 12 July 2022, Sabally was named an assistant coach for

. During her first season, she helped lead the Hornet to a 25–8 record, the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...

regular season championship, 2023 Big Sky tournament championship, and their first ever appearance in the 2023 NCAA tournament.

Personal life

Nyara's older sister Satou, who played for Oregon in both seasons that Nyara missed due to injury, is a professional basketball player for the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg ...

of the WNBA.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sabally, Nyara 2000 births Living people German people of Gambian descent German women's basketball players Forwards (basketball) German expatriate basketball people in the United States Sportspeople from Berlin Oregon Ducks women's basketball players New York Liberty draft picks New York Liberty players