Ruth Cecilia Hebard (born April 28, 1998) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2 ...

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). 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 ...

for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. ...

. While at West Valley High School in

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

, Hebard was a three-time Gatorade State Player of the Year from 2013 to 2015, and two-time ''

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'' Alaska Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016.

Career

College career

2016–2017 season

As a member of a highly touted freshman class that also included future two-time national player of the year

Sabrina Ionescu Sabrina Elaine Ionescu (born December 6, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks. She is the NCAA all- ...

, Hebard averaged a team-best 14.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. On January 15, 2017 against no. 17 UCLA, Hebard recorded a season high 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting. She was named both All- Pac-12 Conference and Pac-12 all freshman in the same year; the 18th player in Pac-12 history to achieve the feat.

2017–2018 season

Hebard started 37 of Oregon's 38 games and helped the Ducks advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. She averaged 17.6 points and a team high 9.0 rebounds per game. On February 9, 2018, Hebard scored a career high 30 points on 13-of-15 shooting and 14 rebounds in a game against Washington. In the same month, she set the NCAA men's and women's record for most consecutive made field goal attempts at 33. She was once again named All-Pac-12.

2018–2019 season

Hebard averaged 16.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game for the season and helped the Ducks to their first ever Final Four in the NCAA tournament. She shot 67% from the floor for the second best shooting efficiency in NCAA, and was perfect in two games where she went 9-of-9 in a win against Air Force and 10-of-10 in a win against Colorado. She was named to the All-Pac-12 team for the third year in a row.

2019–2020 season

In a 104–46 rout of Colorado on January 3, 2020, Hebard scored 21 points and became the 12th player in Pac-12 history to surpass the 2,000 career points milestone. She joined Ionescu as the only two active Pac-12 players in the 2,000 club.

Professional career

WNBA

In the 2020 WNBA draft, the

selected Hebard with the 8th overall pick.

Overseas career

=Nesibe Aydın

= After her first WNBA season, Hebard signed to the newly promoted Nesibe Aydın of the Women's Basketball Super League. Her team finished the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...

on the third place, in the

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

they lost against

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

in the semi-final after defeated 58-70 at the last game of the best of five series. Hebard best match in the regular season was at the round 9 against Beşiktaş when she scored 34 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. In the playoff her best game was the first match of the semifinal against Galatasaray, she scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds when Nesibe won 71-68.

=KSC Szekszárd

= At the summer of 2022, Hebard signed to KSC Szekszárd whom played in the Nemzeti Bajnokság the top tier Hungarian women's basketball leagues, and the EuroLeague. She terminated her contract with the team in mid-February of 2023, for personal reasons.

Personal life

Hebard, who is

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, was born in Chicago. She was adopted by two

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

parents and grew up in

. She is the second of three children adopted by John and Dorothy Hebard. She is a Christian and a member of the

Fellowship of Christian Athletes The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international non-profit Christian sports ministry founded in 1954 and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It has staff offices located throughout the United States and abroad. History FCA was foun ...

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

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, 37 , , 37 , , 30.3 , , .660 , , .000 , , .684 , , 9.0 , , 0.6 , , 1.2 , , 1.6 , , 1.6 , , 17.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 36 , , 28.7 , , .670 , , .000 , , .678 , , 9.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 1.3 , , 16.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20* , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 33 , , 28.7 , , .685 , , .000 , , .695 , , 9.6 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 1.1 , , 1.5 , , 17.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 144 , , 141 , , 28.7 , , .651 , , .000 , , .689 , , 9.0 , , 0.9 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , 1.7 , , 16.4 * 2020 NCAA tournament canceled due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

WNBA

Regular season

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