a legendary Zag departs the program
What can you say about a player who has won enough accolades to fill an entire paragraph that hasn’t been said already?
Well, let’s start with the numbers. Across this past 35 game season, Ejim finished with 20.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.0 blocks with shooting splits of 55.8% 2FG, 25.5% 3FG, 78.4% FT.
The Canadian also set multiple personal records this campaign with her 726 points, which is also a single-season GU record, 325 rebounds, also a single-season record, 47 three point attempts, and usage percentage of 33.2. But this wasn’t just someone setting a simple PR, she led the WCC in points, rebounds, field goals with 281, and double-doubles with 11 while finishing second in overall field goal percentage at 52.7% and made free throws at 143.
She may not have ended up winning the national awards like the Becky Hammon POTY, Naismith College POTY, or the WSBWA Ann Meyers Drysdal Award (the John Wooden Award has not announced their 2025 winner yet), she was in the race for those accolades right up until the end and managed to pull in some in different areas. Those include being the back-back WCC POT and WCC Defensive POTY, a second time honorable mention AP All-American, and a selection to the CSC Academic All-District Team. Not only that, she was 1 of 5 active D1 players with 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
Vonny finishes her five year Gonzaga career with 161 games played, starting 102, 3798 minutes played, 970 made field goals converted at 55.1%, 1140 rebounds, 257 assists, 196 steals, and 147 blocks. I just want to remind you of the Gonzaga career records she holds after finishing her career. As when I did this earlier in the season, I will use both Gonzaga’s* record book and Sports Reference^ with indicators to highlight which source
^Defensive Rebounds (tracking: 2002-03) — 706
^Offensive Rebounds (tracking: 2002-03) — 434
^Total Rebounds (tracking: 2002-03) — 1140
*Field Goals Made — 970
^Effective Field Goal Percentage (tracking: 1986-87) — 55.6%
*Field Goal Percentage — 55.1%
^Personal Fouls (tracking: 2002-03) — 408
^Player Efficiency Rating (PER) (complete: 2018-19; partial data prior) — 36.3
*Games Played — 161 (tied with Kaylynne Truong)
With such a stellar academic career that saw her complete a physiology major and psychology minor, I had questions about whether or not the graduating fifth year would want to pursue the next step in her basketball career. However, in an article from Her Hoop Stats, Ejim was quoted “I want to become a professional, either in the WNBA or overseas.”
That means Zag fans may have the opportunity to witness another Bulldog playing in the WNBA. Make no mistake, Yvonne should absolutely get drafted, but with the roster restrictions in the League, sticking with a team through training camp may be difficult as we saw with Kaylynne Truong and Brynna Maxwell, both of whom are playing overseas currently. If Ejim gets drafted, she will be just the 9th player ever for Gonzaga, although this barrier was only broken in 2010 by Vivian Freison.
Height may be a limiting factor for Yvonne as her 6’1” stature will place her on the shorter side for the forward position. I personally think her speed and work ethic will allow to overcome that disadvantage, but it’s still tough when you’re facing off against a frontcourt featuring players listed at 6’6”. While we saw an uptick in three point attempts this year, she shot 64% of her career total this season alone, her efficiency wasn’t particularly good despite possessing a fairly lockdown midrange jumper. That might turn some teams off, but if someone can harness her midrange acumen and stretch it out behind the line, I think you’ve got an incredible dynamic player on the court.
It will be very strange tuning in next fall and not seeing Yvonne’s great big smile sporting the white and navy dominating her opponents. She, along with the other departing seniors really make this feel like the end of an era, at least for me because everyone else currently left on this squad will have only been at the program for two years maximum. In some ways, the ‘25-26 Bulldogs will have even more questions compared to this year’s squad.
So Yvonne, I want to personally thank you for bringing your best to Gonzaga. I wish you success in all your endeavors and I hope that if you pursue medicine we can come across each other’s paths. sometime. Good luck and godspeed.