Former Gonzaga point guard Courtney Vandersloot will not be joining Sopron for the upcoming EuroLeague women’s basketball season, according to a release by the club.
The club acknowledged an ongoing energy crisis in Hungary, which has caused facility issues. However, the primary reason for Vandersloot’s absence is cited as ‘personal reasons’.
Using google translate (which often loses context and or nuance) the article said as follows:
“Our worries are topped by the fact that Courtney Vandersloot, due to personal reasons, will definitely not be able to fulfill the terms of her contract within the foreseeable future and will not be able to strengthen the ranks of our team.”
Without more context it’s tough to know what the full story is here. After an 11-year career in Chicago, which included a championship for the Sky, Vandersloot is heading into WNBA free agency.
Perhaps the wear and tear of another full year of hoops, between EuroLeague and the WNBA, has caught up to Vandersloot – who battled concussion issues during the regular season.
Perhaps her impending free agency has her taking time away from playing overseas. Perhaps Brittney Griner’s legal troubles in Russia, which Sloot has openly talked about, is a deterrent for playing overseas.
It could be some combination of everything, or it could be something else entirely. All we know now is that Vandersloot will not suit up for Sopron for the foreseeable future.
More on this story as it develops.
Andy hosts the Locked on Zags and Locked on College Basketball podcasts, and serves Locked On in a marketing/digital content creator role as well. He lives just outside Portland with his wife Jenna and dog, Tillie.