Courtney Vandersloot, the former Kentwood High School star, will miss the rest of the WNBA season with the Chicago Sky with a right torn anterior crucial ligament (ACL), an injury she sustained in a June 7 game against Indiana.
Vandersloot, 36, underwent an MRI after the game that revealed the injury, according to a Chicago Sky social media post. She will undergo surgery to repair the injury.
Vandersloot signed a one-year contract in January to play for Chicago. She played the previous two years with the New York Liberty, which won the league title in 2024. The point guard spent her first 12 years in the league with Chicago, which won the title in 2021. She was the No. 3 overall pick by the Sky in the 2011 WNBA Draft.
The 5-foot-8 Vandersloot was averaging 10.6 points and 5.3 assists per game for the Sky.
“She’s our engine, she’s our captain and our leader out there,” Sky coach Tyler Marsh said, according to CBSsports.com. “Obviously it’s a huge blow.”
Less than five minutes into the game, Vandersloot was driving to the basket when she suddenly collapsed to the ground and grabbed for her right knee, according to CBSsports.com.
A five-time all-star, Vandersloot, known as “Sloot,” ranks second in WNBA career assists behind former Seattle Storm star Sue Bird. Bird has 3,234 assists and Vandersloot has 2,877.
At Kentwood, Vandersloot led the Conquerors to a 28-1 mark her senior season in 2007 and a third-place finish at state, with the only loss in the Class 4A state semifinals. She led the state in scoring with an average of 26 points per game. She also averaged 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals per game.
Vandersloot excelled at Gonzaga University in Spokane where she was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year three times. She twice led the NCAA in assists per game and was an Associated Press All-America second-team pick in 2010-2011.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
