It’s not as though Sonia Citron was uncelebrated or unappreciated during her four-year run with the Notre Dame women’s basketball team, but the outside accolades never quite synched up with how much she meant to the Irish program.
Or what her game could turn into at the professional level.
Until Monday night, that is, when the 6-foot-1 guard strolled into history on the big stage — at Hudson Yards at the Shed in Manhattan, specifically — as the third overall pick in the WNBA Draft.
The Washington Mystics, 14-26 in 2024 and a playoff non-qualifier, made Citron the 22nd Notre Dame player in program history to be selected in a WNBA Draft, which started in 1997, and the 11th first-rounder among them.
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But just two of those 11 Irish first-rounders were selected earlier than the Eastchester, N.Y., product in their respective drafts — Jackie Young by the Las Vegas Aces in 2019 and Jewell Loyd by the Seattle Storm in 2015, both going No. 1 overall.
Devereaux Peters (2012), Skylar Diggins-Smith (2013), Kayla McBride (2014) were also the No. 3 overall picks.
UConn guard Paige Bueckers went No. 1 overall Monday night to Dallas, followed by Seattle taking 19-year-old 6-6 center Dominique Malonga with the No. 2 overall pick.
Three of Citron’s teammates were hopeful to be selected later on Monday night in the three-round, 38-player affair — forwards Maddy Westbeld, Liatu King and Liza Karlen.
Citron was one of 16 WNBA Draft hopefuls who attended the festivities in person, and the venue happened to be just 22 miles south of where she grew up. She’s the first Irish player to be drafted since 2022, when Maya Dodson was a third-rounder, and just the second since the Irish flooded the 2019 WNBA Draft with five draftees, including first-rounders Young, Arike Ogunbowale and Brianna Turner.
New Mystics general manager Jamila Wideman and new coach Sydney Johnson also had picks Nos. 4 and 6 in the first round. The WNBA season opens on May 16, with Washington hosting the Atlanta Dream that night.
For those local Irish fans who might like to see Citron play in person, the Mystics have an exhibition game at the Indiana Fever on May 3 (1 p.m.) in Indianapolis.
Citron was named All-ACC this spring for the third season in a row after winning the league’s top newcomer as a freshman in 2022. She averaged 14.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 2024-35 for an Irish team (28-6) that spent a week at the top of the polls in mid-February but flamed out in the NCAA’s Sweet 16 for the fourth year in a row.
Citron shot .484 from the field, a career-best, .372 from the 3-point arc and .890 from the free-throw line. She had career-highs in both blocked shots (29) and steals (82). What didn’t always show up numerically was her versatility both offensively and defensively, her mental toughness and her ability to mitigate an opposing team’s top offensive threat.
But only twice did she receive any kind of All-America mention and it was as an honorable-mention selection in both 2023 and 2025. The three-time ACC all-academic selection leaves South Bend as the only player in ND history with 1700 points, 700 rebounds and 300 assists.
“Notre Dame is such a special place,” Citron said after the Irish lost 71-62 to TCU on March 29 in her final game. “We’re just so blessed to be able to play the sport that we love with the people that we love for the coaches and the university that we love.”
She also leaves behind an Irish rebuild-in-progress for coach Niele Ivey, with a lot of questions still to answer as the Irish lose four others to expired eligibility from the 2025 roster as well as four players to the transfer portal. League-wide the ACC had 69 players submit their names to transfer, with the portal still open for new submissions until April 23.
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It’s not as though Sonia Citron was uncelebrated or unappreciated during her four-year run with the Notre Dame women’s basketball team, but the outside accolades never quite synched up with how much she meant to the Irish program.
Or what her game could turn into at the professional level.
Until Monday night, that is, when the 6-foot-1 guard strolled into history on the big stage — at Hudson Yards at the Shed in Manhattan, specifically — as the third overall pick in the WNBA Draft.
The Washington Mystics, 14-26 in 2024 and a playoff non-qualifier, made Citron the 22nd Notre Dame player in program history to be selected in a WNBA Draft, which started in 1997, and the 11th first-rounder among them.
But just two of those 11 Irish first-rounders were selected earlier than the Eastchester, N.Y., product in their respective drafts — Jackie Young by the Las Vegas Aces in 2019 and Jewell Loyd by the Seattle Storm in 2015, both going No. 1 overall.
Devereaux Peters (2012), Skylar Diggins-Smith (2013), Kayla McBride (2014) were also the No. 3 overall picks.
UConn guard Paige Bueckers went No. 1 overall Monday night to Dallas, followed by Seattle taking 19-year-old 6-6 center Dominique Malonga with the No. 2 overall pick.
Three of Citron’s teammates were hopeful to be selected later on Monday night in the three-round, 38-player affair — forwards Maddy Westbeld, Liatu King and Liza Karlen.
Citron was one of 16 WNBA Draft hopefuls who attended the festivities in person, and the venue happened to be just 22 miles south of where she grew up. She’s the first Irish player to be drafted since 2022, when Maya Dodson was a third-rounder, and just the second since the Irish flooded the 2019 WNBA Draft with five draftees, including first-rounders Young, Arike Ogunbowale and Brianna Turner.
New Mystics general manager Jamila Wideman and new coach Sydney Johnson also had picks Nos. 4 and 6 in the first round. The WNBA season opens on May 16, with Washington hosting the Atlanta Dream that night.
For those local Irish fans who might like to see Citron play in person, the Mystics have an exhibition game at the Indiana Fever on May 3 (1 p.m.) in Indianapolis.
Citron was named All-ACC this spring for the third season in a row after winning the league’s top newcomer as a freshman in 2022. She averaged 14.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 2024-35 for an Irish team (28-6) that spent a week at the top of the polls in mid-February but flamed out in the NCAA’s Sweet 16 for the fourth year in a row.
Citron shot .484 from the field, a career-best, .372 from the 3-point arc and .890 from the free-throw line. She had career-highs in both blocked shots (29) and steals (82). What didn’t always show up numerically was her versatility both offensively and defensively, her mental toughness and her ability to mitigate an opposing team’s top offensive threat.
But only twice did she receive any kind of All-America mention and it was as an honorable-mention selection in both 2023 and 2025. The three-time ACC all-academic selection leaves South Bend as the only player in ND history with 1700 points, 700 rebounds and 300 assists.
“Notre Dame is such a special place,” Citron said after the Irish lost 71-62 to TCU on March 29 in her final game. “We’re just so blessed to be able to play the sport that we love with the people that we love for the coaches and the university that we love.”
She also leaves behind an Irish rebuild-in-progress for coach Niele Ivey, with a lot of questions still to answer as the Irish lose four others to expired eligibility from the 2025 roster as well as four players to the transfer portal. League-wide the ACC had 69 players submit their names to transfer, with the portal still open for new submissions until April 23.
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND and @TJamesND.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
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