May 27, 2025
Locked On Women’s Basketball: Kelly Graves joins show, talks Oregon as women’s basketball epicenter
By The Next
Graves: 'We're riding the crest of a really big wave, [so] what we do with it now is up to us, right? We've got to capitalize on it'
On today’s episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, Oregon women’s basketball head coach Kelly Graves joins host Howard Megdal to talk about how the Ducks’ program has evolved, its importance in the basketball landscape of the American northwest, and more. With notable alums Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally, and a professional team headed back to Portland, the two discuss how Oregon has become another epicenter for the sport.
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First, they talked about the WNBA exhibition preseason game that took place at Matthew Knight Arena earlier this year:
“It started earlier this year, during the winter, Jonathan Kolb, their general manager at the Liberty, just called me,” Graves explained. “[He] said, ‘Hey, Kelly, we’re interested in coming out there for a game playing it right there in Eugene. Do you think that would be okay?’ And [I] go, ‘Well, yeah, we’d love it! Let me just run it up the flagpole.’ So I sent it on to the administration. They did everything, everything from there. And, yeah, it was an amazing experience for everybody involved. We ended up selling the place out at 12,300. You know, Sabrina’s last year here was, unfortunately, the COVID year, when the NCAA Tournament was canceled.”
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“I mean, we just kind of had everything rolling at that point,” he continued. “And, so we would have had, more than likely, two games in Eugene, and then my guess is we’d have been in the Portland regional, two games in Portland to get to the Final Four. And Sabrina and her teammates never got that chance to play. What they would have known, ‘Hey, this is my last game at Matthew Knight arena.’ And so I think by them coming back, especially after having won a championship, you know, I think was really special. I think it gave our fans a chance to celebrate her and Nyara Sabally, who is also on the Liberty, one last time. And it also gave Sabrina a little bit of closure, you know, she got that send off kind of game here in Eugene, that I think she really deserved [it].”
Then, they talked about the new WNBA team about to enter the Portland professional sports ecosystem. Graves explained why he believes the area would embrace a new women’s basketball team:
“Well, I think Portland’s perfect fit for the WNBA. I mean, they have shown, with the success of the Portland Thorns in the women’s pro soccer league, that they will support women’s sports there. You know, we’ve had a few regionals in Portland, they’ve been among the best attended events ever. You’ve got Oregon State and Oregon, two top 20 fan bases in the country. So it was kind of a natural, I think, fit. It really was. And, yeah, certainly I had nothing to do with it. But I think the fact that we’ve shown that people will support women’s sports here. And I think we have definitely been part of that. So I’m really happy, in fact, the day we had the Liberty game, Inky Son, the new president of the Portland franchise, was down [here]. She and I had a chance to spend about an hour together and just talk. And she’s really excited [and] by the way, [she is] very impressive, so that that’s a definitely going to be well run up there, you can tell. So it’s just, it’s exciting. And now for my players to be able to, during the summer, when they’re here working out, [it] gives them something else to do, go up and watch a pro game. So, you know, it’s a win-win. That’s the team that I’m going to try and get down here next spring. Maybe we can get the new Portland franchise to play somebody here in Eugene, and kind of get the fans around here excited about about them,” he said.
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“I think it’s going to be big,” Graves continued. “I think right now, women’s basketball, and certainly in this region, we’re riding the crest of a really big wave, [so] what we do with it now is up to us, right? We’ve got to capitalize on it. We don’t want to come crashing down when that wave breaks. So, yeah, I’m excited to partner with them, and hopefully them with us. And we can work together to really make this a basketball area, I think it is. But I think we even have room to grow.”
Tune in to hear more from Graves and Megdal about Oregon women’s basketball and the growing popularity of the sport in the northwest. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about women’s college basketball, the WNBA, basketball history and much more!
