Fairfax, Va. -- After the Jan. 10 win against Davidson, in which senior Sonia Smith scored a game-high 17 points, she got some more good news: she is being given the chance to make her dream of playing in the WNBA come true.
 
In the locker room after the game, head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis read an email to the whole team that said Smith has been invited to the Premier WNBA Combine sponsored by ProHoops in Cleveland, Ohio at the Women's Final Four on April 6.
 
"[It was a] full surprise to me," said Smith. "I never caught wind of it until she just read off an email that she got in front of the whole team. And it was a really special moment." At the combine, Smith will play in front of WNBA coaches and general managers who will be looking for players to draft on April 15 or to sign to their training camp rosters.
 
After Coach Blair-Lewis read the email, Smith's teammates engulfed her with love and hugs. "I shed a little tear because it's just something I've been working toward my whole life and kind of felt like it was out of reach at a point in my life. And now […] it's right here in my grasp. Just the feeling of my work paying off in the long run and that gratitude that I feel just for everybody who's helped me along the way, like, is just really special."
 
Smith is the fourth George Mason women's basketball player to be given the opportunity to try to make a WNBA team.
 
Jen Derevjanik '04 was invited to a similar combine in 2004 where the Connecticut Sun saw her and signed her to first a training camp contract, and later, a roster spot. She played two years with Connecticut before being signed by the Phoenix Mercury where she played for three years and won a WNBA Championship.
 
Keri (Chaconas) Holms '96 played one season with the Washington Mystics after attending an open tryout for their expansion team in 1998. She was one of four players from the tryout invited to training camp.
 
Natalie Butler '18 attended the ProHoops Combine in 2018. Butler was then drafted 30^th overall in the 2018 WNBA Draft to the Dallas Wings where she signed a training camp contract but was unfortunately cut before the season began.
 
Smith knows there's still a long way to go before making a WNBA team, but she's got the drive to show those coaches she deserves a spot. "My mindset now is like I'm back at the bottom of the barrel. I've got to continue to work just like I didn't get invited. I've got to continue to work like I'm one of the worst players in the country. Just kind of back on that grind, so that I can show when that time comes like my talent and how much I've grown."
 
The guard out of Upper Marlboro, Md. was tabbed as the Atlantic 10's Most Improved Player and was named to the Atlantic 10 First Team, a first for the program since 2019.
Smith averaged 15.2 points per game, shooting 40 % from the field, including 32% from three-point range. She scored in double-figures in all but four games this season and registered seven 20+ scoring performance, including a career-high 30 points at Duquesne. She also pulled down 3.2 rebounds, dished 3.1 assists, and had 1.1 steals per game.
 
The Premier WNBA Combine sponsored by ProHoops will be on April 6 in Cleveland. Smith has also accepted an invite to the Eurobasket Summer League Showcase this weekend.
 
Good luck, Sonia!