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WNBA All-Star Surprise: How Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron Found Out She Made It
Jul 10, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron (22) reacts after scoring a basket against the Las Vegas Aces during the fourth quarter at EagleBank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

Sonia Citron has had a lot go her way the last four months. In April the former Notre Dame basketball star was drafted third overall by the Washington Mystics and last week Citron found out she was one of three rookies to be named to the WNBA All Star Game. And on Thursday we learned exactly how Citron found out she had made the All-Star Team. Just a heads up, it's pretty bizarre.

Citron joined WNBA legend Lisa Leslie on the Between the Lines Podcast on Thursday and revealed that a different WNBA team broke the news to the Mystics first-round draft choice. Apparently, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert thought she called Citron but instead accidentally called Seattle Storm's Gabby Williams telling her she had made the All-Star Team. Engelbert then left a voicemail explaining she had made a mistake and meant to call Citron, not Williams.

"Before our game against Minnesota, I was checking my phone," Citron said. "I saw that Gabby Williams had followed and DM'ed me. I was like, 'This is super random because I've never met her, never talked to her.' ... And then I looked at her DM, and it was a screenshot of a voicemail from Cathy {Engelbert} to her. And in the DM she was like, 'Hey, Cathy called me thinking that this number was your number. I hope this isn't how you found out but congrats.'"

Talk about a major goof up by Engelbert. And fortunately for Engelbert, Williams made the All-Star Team too. Because if she hadn't, chances are Engelbert would have felt way worse. Can you imagine how awkward that would have been for Engelbert? Having to call Williams and tell her you accidentally called her thinking she were someone else, but oh by the way, that other person is an All-Sar but you're not. The thought alone is cringe-worthy.

However, both Williams and Citron were named All-Stars for the first time in their careers, and at the end of the day, is it that big of a deal? After all, it was just a little mix-up.

The WNBA All-Star festivities are set for July 18th and 19th, with the All-Star Game tipping off at 8:40 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, July 19th from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.


This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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