{"id":351526,"date":"2025-12-16T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T06:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/351526\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T06:00:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T06:00:32","slug":"courtney-vandersloot-will-make-her-chicago-homecoming-after-agreeing-to-one-year-deal-with-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/351526\/","title":{"rendered":"Courtney Vandersloot will make her Chicago homecoming after agreeing to one-year deal with Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtney Vandersloot\u2019s career can be defined by an exhausting desire to avoid complacency.<\/p>\n

For 12 seasons, the Sky<\/a> were the beneficiaries of the little room she left for error and her unwavering loyalty, both of which were the foundation of the franchise\u2019s first WNBA championship in 2021.<\/p>\n

After making good on her goal of winning a second title \u2014 helping the Liberty win their first in 2024 \u2014 Vandersloot will sign a one-year deal to return to the Sky, multiple sources told the Sun-Times.<\/p>\n

The terms of Vandersloot\u2019s deal can\u2019t be made official until Saturday, but in her typical fashion, she subtly confirmed the news herself with a social-media bio change. Where it once read \u201cNew York Liberty\u201d on Vandersloot\u2019s Instagram, it now reads \u201cChicago Sky.\u201d<\/p>\n

No player in Sky history has made more of an impact than Vandersloot.<\/p>\n

During her first stint with the Sky, Vandersloot was a four-time All-Star and a six-time assist leader, and she set the WNBA\u2019s single-game assist record (18), which since has been broken by Fever star Caitlin Clark (19). Vandersloot added another assist title and an All-Star nod in her two seasons with the Liberty.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Vandersloot and Allie Quigley, the Sky\u2019s all-time leading scorer and Vandersloot\u2019s wife, were key reasons behind WNBA legend Candace Parker\u2019s decision to sign with her hometown franchise. Parker\u2019s signing was directly responsible for the Sky winning the title, and it wouldn\u2019t have happened without Vandersloot.<\/p>\n

The team that Vandersloot is returning to, though, is not a contender.<\/p>\n

She will be expected to help usher in a new era anchored by young stars Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese. But her decision to sign with the Sky \u2014 despite interest from other teams, including the Valkyries, Storm and Mercury \u2014 signals they are committed to being a serious franchise.<\/p>\n

The Sky are getting their point guard back two years older with 70 more games of wear and tear. She averaged 6.4 points and 4.8 assists, playing just 22.3 minutes per game last year for the Liberty.<\/p>\n

Her addition will not answer the Sky\u2019s need for a reliable three-point shooter. The team could look to fill that hole by dealing the No. 3 overall pick<\/a>, but it would require receiving an All-Star shooting guard or small forward.<\/p>\n

Vandersloot believes that with the personnel in Chicago \u2014 starting with general manager Jeff Pagliocca and Marsh \u2014 she can maximize the years she has left in the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I heard [Pagliocca] was up for the [Sky\u2019s GM] job, I absolutely was like, \u2018He\u2019s the right guy for it,\u2019 \u201d Vandersloot said during the opening weekend of Unrivaled. \u201cThe way he can connect to players, you just don\u2019t see a lot. As a GM, that\u2019s the most important thing, is being able to connect with these players and get them to trust you. You build that relationship so they want to come here and they know the path that you\u2019re taking this franchise is the right one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of what Pagliocca and Marsh sold Vandersloot on was an opportunity to accomplish even more greatness with the Sky. She\u2019s 385 assists away from surpassing Sue Bird and becoming the WNBA\u2019s all-time assist leader and 52 points behind Quigley in career scoring for the Sky.<\/p>\n

Beyond her superior facilitating, Vandersloot will bring the right mindset to a franchise that\u2019s still in rebuild mode. While some people are afraid of being told about their shortcomings, Vandersloot is more fearful of what happens if those things aren\u2019t critiqued and dissected until they\u2019re no longer recognizable.<\/p>\n

The Sky need that kind of approach to turn the corner in their rebuild.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtney Vandersloot\u2019s career can be defined by an exhausting desire to avoid complacency. For 12 seasons, the Sky…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-351526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}