Aari McDonald

Aarion Shawnae McDonald (born August 20, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Dream in the 2021 WNBA draft after playing college basketball at the University of Washington and the University of Arizona.

Early life and high school
McDonald grew up in Fresno, California as the youngest of six children. After initially playing at Bullard High School in her freshman year, she transferred to Brookside Christian High School in Stockton, California. At Brookside, she compiled nearly 1,500 points scored in her two years with the school, recording multiple triple-doubles and even a quadruple double. A four-star recruit, she committed to playing college basketball at Washington.

University of Washington
After missing the first seven games due to injury, McDonald played in 28 games, starting 21 of them. She was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team after averaging 9.8 points on the season, third on the team behind Kelsey Plum and Chantel Osahor.

McDonald announced that she would leave the program and transfer after one season. She cited departures of Plum, Osahor, head coach Mike Neighbors, assistant coach Morgan Valley, and the passing of her grandfather as reasons for her transfer.

University of Arizona
McDonald decided to transfer to play at Arizona for Adia Barnes, a former Washington assistant who was heavily involved in recruiting her to play for the Huskies. She spent her first season with the program sitting out due to transfer rules and was a member of the scout team.

Redshirt sophomore year
McDonald made an immediate impact in her first year on the court for the Wildcats, tying the school's single game scoring record with 39 points against Loyola Marymount in the second game of the season. She finished the season with 890 points scored, breaking a single-season record set by her coach Barnes, and was the second player in Pac-12 history to have 800 points and 150 assists, joining her former teammate Plum. She was named to the All-Pac-12 first team and defensive team at the end of the season.

Redshirt junior year
After tying the single-game record for scoring in the previous season, McDonald broke the record with a 44-point performance against 22nd-ranked Texas on November 17, 2019.

McDonald racked up awards, being named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press and United States Basketball Writers Association, a first-team All-American by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, first-team All-Pac-12 and on the Pac-12 All-Defensive team. She was also a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award and named the 2020 recipient of the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, given to the top shooting guard in the country.

Although she was eligible for the WNBA draft, McDonald announced that she would return for her senior season at Arizona.

Redshirt senior year
McDonald was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year, becoming the first Arizona player to win the award since her head coach Adia Barnes. She was also named the Co-Defensive Player of the Year, the second consecutive year she was named the winner.

McDonald excelled during Arizona's 2021 NCAA tournament run. After leading the Wildcats past Stony Brook and BYU, she scored 31 points against Texas A&M in the Sweet Sixteen, sending Arizona to the Elite Eight for the first time. She scored 33 points in the Wildcats' Elite Eight match against Indiana, despite suffering an ankle injury with more than two minutes remaining in the game. In their next game against UConn, she scored 26 points en route to earning the first championship appearance in program history, as well as praise from UConn head coach Geno Auriemma.

In the national championship game, McDonald scored a game-high 22 points and was able to get the final shot of the game off, but could not get it to fall as the Wildcats lost to Stanford 54–53, ending their historic run. She ended her college career after scoring double-digits in 93 consecutive games, which was the longest active streak.

College Statistics

 * style="text-align:left;" | 2016–17
 * style="text-align:left;" | Washington
 * 28 || 21 || 24.1 || .473 || .330 || .667 || 2.7 || 1.4 || 1.4 || 0.1 || 1.6 || 9.8
 * style="text-align:left;" | 2017–18
 * style="text-align:left;" | Arizona
 * style="text-align:center;" colspan=12 | Sat out due to NCAA transfer rules
 * style="text-align:left;" | 2018–19
 * style="text-align:left;" | Arizona
 * 37 || 37 || 35.7 || .452 || .281 || .755 || 6.5 || 4.6 || 2.6 || 0.1 || 3.8 || 24.1
 * style="text-align:left;" | 2019–20
 * style="text-align:left;" | Arizona
 * 29 || 29 || 31.8 || .458 || .278 || .788 || 5.6 || 3.6 || 2.3 || 0.0 || 3.8 || 20.6
 * style="text-align:left;" | 2020–21
 * style="text-align:left;" | Arizona
 * 27 || 27 || 33.6 || .407 || .345 || .765 || 5.4 || 4.0 || 2.6 || 0.1 || 3.1 || 20.6
 * style="text-align:center;" | Career
 * 5 years, 2 teams
 * 121 || 114 || 31.6 || .444 || .305 || .756 || 5.1 || 3.4 || 2.3 || 0.1 || 3.1 || 19.1
 * style="text-align:left;" | Arizona
 * 27 || 27 || 33.6 || .407 || .345 || .765 || 5.4 || 4.0 || 2.6 || 0.1 || 3.1 || 20.6
 * style="text-align:center;" | Career
 * 5 years, 2 teams
 * 121 || 114 || 31.6 || .444 || .305 || .756 || 5.1 || 3.4 || 2.3 || 0.1 || 3.1 || 19.1
 * 121 || 114 || 31.6 || .444 || .305 || .756 || 5.1 || 3.4 || 2.3 || 0.1 || 3.1 || 19.1

Professional career
After being projected to be a top-five draft pick, McDonald was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Dream in the 2021 WNBA draft. She averaged 6.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 30 games in the 2021 WNBA season. She was subsequently named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team.

In October 2021, McDonald had a four-game stint in Hungary with Uni Gyor MELY-UT.

McDonald returned to the Atlanta Dream for the 2022 WNBA season and averaged 11.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 36 games. She returned to the Dream in 2023 for a third season.

On August 25, 2023, McDonald signed with the Perth Lynx in Australia for the 2023–24 WNBL season. On December 29, 2023, she was ruled out for six weeks with a knee injury. She suffered a torn medial collateral ligament two days earlier against the UC Capitals but avoided a knee reconstruction. She returned to the line-up for the final two regular-season games, scoring 24 and 26 points to help the Lynx clinch a playoff spot. She finished as the league's scoring champion with 19.8 points per game and earned All-WNBL Second Team honors. She scored 26 and 27 points in two semi-final games to lift the fourth-placed Lynx over the first-placed Townsville Fire to reach the WNBL grand final series. In game one of the grand final series against the Southside Flyers, McDonald had 15 points and 10 assists in a 101–79 win. They went on to lose game two 97–95 despite McDonald's game-high 26 points. McDonald had 21 points in a 115–81 loss in game three.

On February 1, 2024, McDonald was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks alongside the 8th pick in the 2024 WNBA draft in exchange for Jordin Canada and the 12th pick.

Regular season

 * style="text-align:left;"| 2021
 * style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta
 * 30 || 4 || 16.4 || .322 || .308 || .882 || 1.6 || 2.0 || 0.8 || 0.2 || 1.2 || 6.3
 * style="text-align:left;"| 2022
 * style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta
 * 36 || 6 || 24.3 || .411 || .338 || .871 || 2.3 || 2.6 || 1.4 || 0.0 || 2.1 || 11.1
 * style="text-align:left;"| 2023
 * style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta
 * 24 || 9 || 23.5 || .402 || .321 || .762 || 2.0 || 3.0 || 0.6 || 0.0 || 1.6 || 7.9
 * style="text-align:left;"| Career
 * style="text-align:left;"| 3 years, 1 team
 * 90 || 19 || 21.5 || .385 || .324 || .851 || 2.0 || 2.5 || 1.0 || 0.1 || 1.7 || 8.6
 * style="text-align:left;"| Career
 * style="text-align:left;"| 3 years, 1 team
 * 90 || 19 || 21.5 || .385 || .324 || .851 || 2.0 || 2.5 || 1.0 || 0.1 || 1.7 || 8.6
 * 90 || 19 || 21.5 || .385 || .324 || .851 || 2.0 || 2.5 || 1.0 || 0.1 || 1.7 || 8.6

Playoffs

 * style="text-align:left;"| 2023
 * style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta
 * 2 || 0 || 18.0 || .273 || .250 || 0.0 || 1.0 || 2.5 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 2.5 || 3.5
 * style="text-align:left;"| Career
 * style="text-align:left;"| 1 year, 1 team
 * 2 || 0 || 18.0 || .273 || .250 || 0.0 || 1.0 || 2.5 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 2.5 || 3.5
 * style="text-align:left;"| 1 year, 1 team
 * 2 || 0 || 18.0 || .273 || .250 || 0.0 || 1.0 || 2.5 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 2.5 || 3.5

Personal life
McDonald is the daughter of Aaron and Andrea McDonald. Her brother Tre'von Willis played basketball at UNLV.

McDonald is currently engaged to former Arizona defensive back Devon Brewer, who proposed to her after the Wildcats were eliminated from the Pac-12 Tournament in 2020.