{"id":212099,"date":"2025-09-09T06:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T06:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212099\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T06:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T06:10:09","slug":"sania-feagin-reflects-on-rookie-season-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212099\/","title":{"rendered":"Sania Feagin reflects on rookie season [Exclusive]"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WNBA can be a major eye-opener for rookies. Many of them go from being one of, if not the top option, on their college teams, to scrapping for minutes at the end of the bench. For Los Angeles Sparks<\/a> rookie Sania Feagin, it\u2019s been a season of learning.<\/p>\n

Sania Feagin went from being a starter as a senior on a national championship contending team, to one of the players at the end of the Sparks\u2019 bench as a rookie. Playing time has been scarce, and most of Feagin\u2019s rotation minutes this season came<\/a> in the immediate aftermath of the Sparks\u2019 decision to cut Mercedes Russell. With Cameron Brink still sidelined at that point, Feagin was the only reliable big behind Azur\u00e1 Stevens and Dearica Hamby.<\/p>\n

But since Brink has returned to the lineup, Feagin\u2019s role has dwindled. During the preseason and training camp, Feagin remarked that one of the biggest adjustments<\/a> she had to make was getting used to the speed of the pro game. Now with the regular season nearing an end, having a short-term memory is perhaps the biggest thing she\u2019s taken away from her rookie season in the WNBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned that you can\u2019t really dwell on the past. You have to let it go and you got the next game in the next 48 hours, sometimes 24 hours, you never know,\u201d Feagin told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. \u201cSo I learned that you can\u2019t never dwell on a single game. You just got to know that it happened, it\u2019s over with, it\u2019s time for the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sania Feagin\u2019s growth during WNBA rookie season<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sparks selected Sania Feagin with the No. 21 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. She was one of the best centers in college basketball as a senior at powerhouse South Carolina. She fit the mold of bigs and centers in today\u2019s game in that she\u2019s quick and mobile defensively, and able to switch onto multiple positions.<\/p>\n

When Feagin has received playing time this year, her defense has been what\u2019s stood out. Take for example a play against the Seattle Storm back on June 17. Feagin found herself switched onto Storm guard Erica Wheeler off a pick. She was beat off the dribble by Wheeler, but quickly recovered to meet Wheeler at the rim and block the shot<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Defense has certainly been a strength of Feagin\u2019s going back to college, and something she projects well in at the WNBA level. But if you ask her, the biggest area of growth she\u2019s had this season hasn\u2019t actually been anything on the court. Instead, she\u2019s had to navigate the mental aspect of being a pro player.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve progressed mentally, not that much physically because I feel like I have it. But mentally I feel like I just got stronger. I understand what it takes to be great,\u201d Feagin said, \u201cI know the work ethic and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sania Feagin has appeared in a total of 15 games for the Sparks this season, at a little over four minutes per game. Her season-high in minutes came on July 15 in a win against the Washington Mystics. Not surprisingly, that was also Feagin\u2019s best game of the year numbers-wise.<\/p>\n

She finished with a season-high eight points on 50 percent shooting from the field in 13 minutes of play. Perhaps her best game defensively was the game against the Storm when she tallied three blocked shots.<\/p>\n

But there is one skill that Feagin has shown this year that makes her a potentially valuable WNBA player at the center position. She is able to see the court and make the right reads. She can find the open teammate and she can make passes on the move in a split second with the defense closing in on her. It\u2019s a skill that she was taught when she was younger, and she\u2019s carried it with her throughout her basketball career.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was younger I was always pass-first before I was taught to score. When I see the open man, when I see one of my teammates open, I\u2019m giving it up to them. If you\u2019re wide-open, I\u2019m giving you the ball,\u201d Feagin said. \u201cEspecially if I\u2019m rolling, I understand I\u2019m right there next to the basket, but you\u2019re wide-open. So it\u2019s giving up a good shot of a greater shot. I think I learned that from my dad honestly. We used to go out there and play football and work on passing.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the month of August, Feagin played in only one of the Sparks\u2019 12 games. Contrast that to the six games she saw action out of the team\u2019s nine games in July. She\u2019s surpassed double digits in minutes played only twice out of 15 games this year. Out of the 39 games Feagin played in during her final season at South Carolina, she only registered single digit minutes in two games.<\/p>\n

The uncertainty and fluctuating role is common for WNBA rookies. One of the most important things rookies can learn is patience. It\u2019s a lot of waiting, a lot of learning while on the bench in real time. And a big chunk of that time for Feagin has been soaking up whatever she can from her coaches and teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly I just ask a lot of questions and I stay engaged. I really try to figure out what\u2019s going outside of the basketball when it comes to the plays, when it comes to what action we\u2019re running, the defense, everything,\u201d Feagin said. \u201cI ask questions so no matter what, when my number is called I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the final days of the regular season winding down, the Sparks are still in the playoff picture, albeit hanging by a thread with each passing day. For Feagin, her role is simple, continue to be the best teammate she can be while continuing to learn as much as she can.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly just continuing to learn, continuing being a sponge,\u201d Feagin said. \u201cUnderstanding what\u2019s good for and what it takes for me to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The WNBA can be a major eye-opener for rookies. Many of them go from being one of, if…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":212100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[6335,1488,8808,62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-212099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-exclusive","9":"tag-los-angeles-sparks","10":"tag-reporting","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115172856576581752","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}