Jordan Harrison and Sania Feagin took two very different paths to the WNBA, but the pair both ended up in the same spot, on the same team, in Portland, Ore.
Of the two, Feagin was by far more well-known when she was drafted as the ninth overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. Feagin graduated from the University of South Carolina, where she blossomed under the tutelage of Dawn Staley and her coaching staff. She was part of two NCAA Championship-winning teams, and expectations were sky-high.
Feagin saw a little bit of action in 2025 and appeared in 16 games for the Sparks. She was waived early in the 2026 season and picked up by the Portland Fire—a second opportunity at realizing a dream.
Sania Feagin’s career has been twice-delayed
In some ways, her WNBA experience mirrored her experience at South Carolina, the team’s associate head coach and former WNBA coach Lisa Boyer told The IX Sports. Feagin joined a Gamecocks squad that already boasted several stars, including Aliyah Boston and Kamilla Cardoso. She had to be patient and accept that minutes on the floor would come over time—and they did.
“Her minutes kept increasing [and] increasing, especially in her junior year,” Boyer said. “And then by the time she was a senior, she was a starter for us. I really respect her resiliency and her trusting the process, and trusting what we were trying to do here.”
The biggest difference between playing at South Carolina and playing in the WNBA is that the latter is a profession, Boyer emphasized. “Having coached in the league, I also know it’s ultra-competitive, and this is now her job. I mean, not just her, but that’s what these women do—it’s their job, and they have to totally commit to it.”
Succeeding in the WNBA requires commitment at every level. “It’s not just when they’re at practice, it’s what they’re doing before practice and after practice, and how they’re fueling their body and taking care of their bodies,” Boyer added. “And so they’re making decisions every day … they’re making decisions every day to put themselves in the best position to be able to execute.”
“Sania knows the recipe, and it isn’t anything that’s foreign to her. She just has to keep moving and moving in that direction,” Boyer added.
Feagin joined the Portland Fire at practice for the first time on July 1. While speaking with reporters, she noted that it was “peaceful” out in the Pacific Northwest, and playing alongside former SEC rival Sarah Ashlee Barker was “fun.” And while some of the team previously mentioned during training camp that Alex Sarama’s Constraints-Led Approach would take some getting used to, Feagin admitted doing so had been “easy” so far.
Like a lot of her teammates, Feagin also acknowledged feeling as if she’d been overlooked in the past. “I feel like I’ve been in the shadows a lot,” she said. “When I get an opportunity to go out there and be who I am, I feel like everybody’s going to be surprised by my offense and my defense, honestly.”
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There’s also something else: like Barker, Feagin is a graduate of the SEC. When asked about what bringing SEC energy to the Fire is all about, Barker told reporters, “I mean, when you’re in the SEC… like the phrase [goes], it just means more. You’re always going to have respect for the teammates that you played against. So we have that SEC bond for sure. And the competitive drive that we played with in the SEC, we’re definitely bringing it out here.”
Unfortunately, Feagin will not get that chance this season. On July 9, the Fire announced she’d torn her ACL and would miss the rest of the 2026 season, a cruel twist of fate before she’d even had a chance to step out onto the court in a game for the team. The Fire added that Feagin will undergo surgery and rehab with the team, a strong indication they intend to support her through her eventual comeback to the game.
Jordan Harrison was an early Fire addition
The Fire is also home to a second developmental player: Jordan Harrison. Fans who have been watching the team since preseason were nearly immediately impressed by the West Virginia graduate, who makes up for her 5’6″ height with a speed and tenacity that could rival that of Sonic the Hedgehog—if he played in the WNBA.
Harrison has always played that way, West Virginia’s assistant head coach Erin Grant told The IX Sports this month. Harrison followed head coach Mark Kellogg to the program after her freshman season at Stephen F. Austin.
“Jordan is one of the most incredible people that you’ll find,” Grant said. “I mean, she’s just genuine, pure soul as a human being first, and then just a determined basketball player. [She] has so much toughness to her game. She’s small in stature, but she’s really just an incredible beast out there on the court.”
The pair spent a lot of time working together, which allowed them to grow close. “So we worked side by side for the last three years. I got to really know her even better. I played point guard at every level as well, so I wanted to give her as much knowledge as I could to help us be as successful as we could be,” Grant added.
Harrison brings a spark to the floor that’s difficult to ignore once she’s out there. “It was Jordan’s identity to really just be tough and determined and fearless on the court,” Grant explained, “and the one thing that she brought with her was her defensive identity.”
She doesn’t care how tall her opponent is. “She will get after you for 94 feet,” Grant laughed. When she came to the program, the goal was to nurture her talent so she could compete against anyone.
“She really put a lot of work into her basketball game and the three-point shot, the mid-range, and then just her competing and being relentless on the defensive end,” Grant said.
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Harrison was initially picked up by the Fire as an undrafted free agent and earned a roster spot through her work in the preseason, something that made the team’s decision to waive her in May a surprise to everyone but her. Harrison has since made it clear that the Fire always communicated their plan to bring her back in the developmental role player spot.
For now, her goal is to keep growing and to do everything she’s asked to. “My mindset is just [that] I come in and try to get better each day, try to make my teammates better, and then whenever they need me, then I’ll be ready to step up and do what I need to do,” Harrison told The IX Sports. “My perspective is just coming in, working hard, and being ready when my number is called.”
I’ve has the please to watch Jordan at WVU and now in the WNBA. She always gas a positive attitude and she will ddo whatever it takes to help her team. Portland Fire are lucky to have found Jordan the Jordan will prove herself as an important part of Portland Fire team and community