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WNBA Champion, Sky Franchise Great Courtney Vandersloot Returns to Chicago
Sat, Feb 1, 2025, 3:08 PM
CHICAGO (February 1, 2025) — The Chicago Sky have officially signed WNBA veteran guard and Sky franchise legend Courtney Vandersloot during free agency. Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed.
“Courtney is a generational talent,” Chicago Sky General Manager Jeff Pagliocca said. “She is a proven winner, champion, leader and among the league’s all-time great point guards. It has been very special watching Courtney build her legacy in this league and with this organization. We cannot wait for her to return home to where her career started and she ultimately belongs.”
“Chicago is where it all started for me—it’s home, it’s family, and it’s a point guard’s dream,” Vandersloot said. “The city, the fans, and the culture here have helped to shape the person I am today. I’m eager to embrace this next chapter, take on the challenge of leading and learning from a really talented young team, and bring my experience back to the place that means so much to me.”
Vandersloot, who helped guide Chicago to their first WNBA Championship in 2021, returns to the Sky for her 13th season with the organization and spending two seasons with New York. With the Liberty, she averaged 8.7 points and 6.6 assists. Vandersloot earned her fifth All-Star nod in 2023 and helped New York to a WNBA Championship in 2024.
She began her career in a Sky uniform after being selected as the third overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft out of Gonzaga. In her decorated 12-year tenure with the Sky, Vandersloot led the league in total assists over five seasons (2015, 2018-21), holds the franchise all-time single game assists record (18, August 31, 2020), currently sits second on the all-time career assists list and first among active players (2,850). She holds the top 13 of the Sky’s best-ever single game assists marks, also recording 13 or more assists 13 times for Chicago.
Across the 2019 and 2020 seasons, she averaged 12.2 points and 9.4 assists while shooting 46.8% from the field and 33.3% from three. She finished no lower than sixth in MVP voting in either of those seasons and made the All-WNBA First Team both years.
At Gonzaga from 2007-11, she had one of the most prolific collegiate careers in WCC history. She led the nation in assists per game in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. She averaged an NCAA DI-most 9.4 assists to go along with a league-leading 3.6 steals per game in 2009-10. In 2010-11, Vandersloot led the WCC in points (19.8), steals (3.2) and led the nation in assists (10.2) her senior year.
Vandersloot also played overseas, including with UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia, Sopron Basket in Hungary, Beşiktaş JK and Fenerbahçe, both in Turkey.
She is currently playing domestically in the 3×3 league, Unrivaled, in Miami with Mist BC.
“Today is a huge day for the Chicago Sky,” Head Coach Tyler Marsh said. “Courtney is an exceptional competitor and the ultimate floor general, who brings veteran leadership and playmaking ability to the Sky. She has been an instrumental part of this franchise for over ten years, and having her back with the organization is truly a full circle moment for us. We are thrilled to welcome her back home to Chicago.”
Chicago will tip off the 2025 regular season on Saturday, May 17 against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 12 p.m. CT. Follow @chicagosky on all social media platforms and head to sky.wnba.com for the latest news, content and ticket purchasing. The full 2025 Sky season schedule can be viewed here.
VANDERSLOOT IN SKY FRANCHISE HISTORY:
1st in games played (358)
1st in minutes played (10,144)
1st in total assists (2,387)
1st in total steals (457)
1st in assists per game (6.7)
1st in assists per game in a season (10.0)
1st in games with 10+ assists (88)
1st in all-time playoff assists (299)
1st, 2nd and 3rd in assists in a single season (300 in 2019, 275 in 2021, 258 in 2018)
1st in points/assists double-doubles (52)
2nd in total points (3,671)
2nd in field goals made (1,367)
2nd in three-pointers made (325)
2nd in defensive rebounds (979)
2nd in total rebounds (1,144)
2nd in free throws made (612)
4th in total blocks (153)
4th in minutes per game (28.3)
7th in steals in a single season (54, 2021)
8th in field goal percentage (44.7%)
8th in points per game (10.3)
10th in total offensive rebounds (165)
VANDERSLOOT’S WNBA CAREER ACCOLADES:
2x WNBA Champion (2021, 2024)
5x WNBA All-Star (2011, 2019, 2021-23)
3x All-WNBA Second Team (2015, 2018, 2021)
2x AP All-WNBA Second Team (2021-22)
2x All-WNBA First Team (2019-20)
2x AP All-WNBA First Team (2019-20)
7x Peak Performer Award Winner – Assists (2015, 2017-21, 2023)
8x WNBA Player of the Week (2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2022)
3x AP Player of the Week (2017, 2022, 2022)
WNBA All-Rookie Team (2011)
WNBA Player of the Month (August 2020)
WNBA Community Assist Award (August 2023)
VANDERSLOOT’S COLLEGIATE CAREER ACCOLADES:
4x All-WCC Team
3x WCC Player of the Year
3x WCC Tournament MVP
AP All-America Second Team (2011) (First player in WCC history to do so)
Nancy Lieberman Award (2011)
WBCA State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team (2011) (First player in WCC history to do so)
John R. Wooden All-American Award (2011) (First in WCC history to do so)
USBWA All-America (2011) (First in Gonzaga history to do so)
Led the nation with 9.4 apg in 2010 and 10.2 apg in 2011
WCC Newcomer of the Year (2008)
WCC All-Freshman Team (2008)
1st player in NCAA Division I history, men’s or women’s, to close out a career with 2,000 points and 1,000 assists
No. 21 retired by Gonzaga on Feb. 11, 2023
