The Many Layers of Notre Dame's Sonia Citron

Graphic created by Chris Wozniak (@wlohaty on Twitter)

“Surrender to what is, let go of what was, and have faith in what will be,” says Sonia Citron, issuing what the tattoo running down her spine reads.

It’s a mantra, a guide, and an embodiment of how Soni (as she’s affectionately called), a junior forward at Notre Dame, wants to consistently live her life. It’s emblematic of this season in South Bend, the Irish hit by countless injuries running from last season to now, but still fighting for top positioning in the ACC and Nationally.

She just scored her 1,000th career point in the blue and metallic gold during a win over Virginia, the 43rd player in program history to do so, wildly impressive considering she’s joined such elite company in just two and a half seasons.

Citron is amidst her finest season in spite of a knee sprain, her first significant injury as an athlete, that kept her sidelined from mid-November to after the New Year. Already one of the most efficient players in the country and the conference (she finished 4th in true-shooting in the ACC in 2023 at 58%, which gauges efficiency while accounting for threes and free throws), she’s made significant strides again as an upperclassmen, with a  61.8% true-shooting mark, ranking sixth in the ACC. 

For reference, the three players leading the way in efficiency are all frontcourt players (Maria Gakdeng, Amari Robinson, and River Baldwin).

She’s quickened the release on her shot, getting up her three ball even more comfortably and on higher volume. She’s taken on an even larger duty running the offense for spurts and developing into a primary option this season for her team; There is more to Soni Citron than meets the eye, on and off the court.

“People who know me know I’m not ever the loudest person in the room. If anything, I’m pretty quiet and reserved to people I don’t really know,” says Citron.

Finding Comfort in Discomfort

Citron was thrust into a larger role when point guard Olivia Miles went down during their regular season finale, and senior guard Dara Mabrey had been lost to a season ending injury just a few weeks earlier. She’s always led by example, but had to learn on the fly with respect to handling an entire offense, shouldering the load for a banged up team down the stretch. While it was a difficult process, she took a great deal away from it and used it to propel herself into this season.

This off-season for Soni was about getting more comfortable being uncomfortable to improve herself and the team, as both she and head coach Niele Ivey put it.

Becoming more vocal was something she and her coaches highlighted as something to improve on. She set to it in practice with vigor  like she would drill anything else on court, clapping when she’s on the sideline or a teammate makes a play, calling out anything defensively when off the ball, even if it just seemed like a simple thing. Making sure your teammate knows you’re behind them and what’s going on is essential.

She emphasized “overtalking” in practice to be better at communicating in game.

Every opportunity Ivey had at her disposal, she had Soni bring the ball up the court in practice. She was picked up full court every single rep to get used to what she was going to face once the new season started. She wanted Soni to have to play through physicality and force even more than she already did, having practice players hound aggressively on the ball and coaches continuously working with the contact pads.

As she’s grown even more on the ball, Ivey likens her to current star for the Las Vegas Aces and former Notre Dame great, Jackie Young.

“It was really funny, because I found out later on that Jackie was her favorite player, and I can see the similarities in the way they both do so many things… both play the one through four, they’re both kind of glue players. They’re different body type wise, but as far as just being quiet assassins, I feel like they’re the same in that regard.”

Ivey continues that Soni has had a similar journey of sorts as Jackie, whom she coached as an assistant at Notre Dame before working with the Memphis Grizzlies and then returning to South Bend in her current capacity.

Injuries during Jackie’s freshman season caused her to play more at the four. All of the Irish point guards were injured during the 2017-18 season, leading to Jackie to shift over to run the point as the Irish won the National Championship.

“That’s what I feel like Soni has really worked on, being able to play with two different mindsets. Running the point and initiating the offense and then being at the elbows setting screens and knowing all the plays at the four… that’s a gift and exactly what Jackie did for us” says Ivey.

It’s one thing to have the skill set or athleticism to play multiple positions, but the mindset, as Ivey puts it, is even more crucial. Do you know where each player is supposed to be, their responsibilities, why they’re doing it?

Soni has grown into that space, becoming one of the most well-rounded and versatile players in the country, just scratching the surface of the heights her game can reach. While she doesn’t let on, it’s been a steady and grinding work in progress to get to this point; she’s an unfaltering worker and ceaselessly perfects her craft.

She has a steely determination and focus in practice. When a team is running zone closeout drills for close to half an hour, a perspective is shown in the truest form of someone’s approach. Each repetition, a small tweak can be found. She alters how she angles her hips after the first attempt. She changes the height with her hand on the arm closing to the shooter the next. She watches all her teammates and notes what they’re doing, asks her position coach for additional reps, and will consistently utilize one on one sessions to hone defensive technique and refine the minutiae of the game.

“Soni is just so consistent… every game, every practice, you know what you’re gonna get,” says teammate Cassandre Prosper.

“She doesn’t go out of her way to talk, but you just listen to her because you have so much respect for her.”

Growing Into Confidence

Soni was recruited heavily by and has worked closely with assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Michaela Mabrey since making her way to South Bend.

“If someone asked me if I liked offense or defense better, I would say defense. I like the aspect of what defense is, being able to stop somebody,” says Citron.

That mindset endeared her to Mabrey, a former player at Notre Dame herself. They’ve worked tirelessly on Soni’s defense; she’s a strong athlete with quick feet and length. She has adept hands, she can get over screens and deny, she can switch, she can block shots… she brings it all on the defensive end.

The largest differentiator from high school to college is technique and angles, something Soni was immediately aware of. She’d ask (and still does) for extra clips from Mabrey of her assignments, what tendencies to focus on, and to run through closeouts and slides outside of practice. Soni knew the things she could get away with in high school due to her size and athleticism wouldn’t hit quite the same in college.

Watching her in AAU as a sophomore, unfettered by physicality, smooth, and unbothered by the moment is when Mabrey fell in love with her game and saw her as someone who would fit with the Irish. Mabrey remarks that Soni would have the same expression if she’d just hit the game-winning shot or if she’d been hard-fouled. 

Stepping on campus as a freshman, Soni didn’t necessarily expect to play a large role, just to come in, help the team win, and make an impact as she kept growing as a player. The staff had different ideas, viewing Soni as an immediate contributor that they thought would produce at a high level (she eventually won the 2021-22 ACC Rookie of the Year).

While her floor game and glue skill set were there from the get go, she was hesitant at times on offense, lacking consistent aggression with the ball in her hands.

“There was one point her freshman year where we had to beg her to shoot the ball,” says Mabrey.

They needed her to be a scorer even though she was content to play a smaller role and fit in. The jump from high school to college was a learning curve. She’s grounded in her work and repetition, and it was an adjustment to come in and be asked to be a scorer.

“It was never about scoring points, how many rebounds I got… it was always about winning and doing whatever it took to help my team win… that stays true to this day,” says Soni, highlighting how her parents taught her to approach the game coming up.

She and forward Nat Marshall, also from New York but a few years older, got close during Soni’s freshman year. Nat illustrates that that first year was about Soni learning more about herself, adapting to a new environment, and finding her confidence as a collegiate athlete.

“It’s tough when really great players are their own biggest critics, and that’s super evident in Soni,” says Marshall.

It’s not that Soni isn’t a confident person, but grounded in her work and repetition, and it was an adjustment to come in and be asked to be a scorer. However, her teammates, her coaches, and her family continually have poured into her. Her time leading the offense was a turning point for her last season.

“Being forced into that role last season, people looked at me to score, to do different things, I think I realized that I’m great at what I do. There are things I can get better at, but being confident in what you can do is key,” says Citron.

New York to Notre Dame

Sonia was a 4 star recruit in 2021, ranked 16th overall in her class (it’s worth noting that ESPN only gave out 15 five star rankings, largely due to the impact of COVID) coming out of The Ursuline School and her hometown of Eastchester, New York. While it’s natural for players to grow as they move from high school to college, it’s less common to see players grow into even larger roles like Citron has as she’s continued to round out her skill set.

That’s what makes the comparison from Ivey to Jackie Young so apt, another extremely talented basketball player that found greater footholds creating with the ball in her hands as she expanded her confidence and on court comfort.

Soni started off with soccer when she was in kindergarten; her father Bill is a fan of Premier League power Manchester United, and the EPL is often playing on TV in the Citron household. She excelled early and wound up making it to youth national team trials prior to high school where she played a few years before focusing solely on basketball.

Her first organized basketball game came in second grade, playing for her neighbor’s AAU team the Lady Knicks. It was a 5th grade squad, but she was already as big as all the other girls that were older than her and already the best player on the team, says Bill.

When you get to an AAU tournament, you have to sign in and go through any paperwork and waivers.

Soni came bounding back to her father after nearing the front of the line.

“She comes up and says, dad, what do I do, I can’t sign,” says Bill.

“Because all the other girls are in 5th grade. I said just scribble something down, make believe you can sign.”

She joined Ursuline’s varsity basketball team as a 7th grader, starting immediately and leading the team in scoring. 

Soni was a consistent 25 point scorer, as illustrated by her parents, but she only scored over 30 a few times in high school, largely when it was required of her to keep the team in the lead and winning. How hard she played was never a question, but she was always looking to pass first.

“Her high school coach always told her, Sonia, you’re unselfish, but to a fault,” says Sonia’s mother Yolanda.

“I remember one game, she told her, today I really need you to be selfish and take more shots.”

Bill and Yolanda have always felt there was something more to Soni’s game that she could unearth as they saw in those contests, something they saw again this past spring when she had to take over the offense: She has the ability to be a got to player, take over games, and will her team to wins when she allows herself to.

Her first year playing at Ursuline was when Niele Ivey first started keeping tabs on her after receiving a call from a New York area high school coach.

“He said, The best kid out here is Soni Citron, she plays on a smaller team, not on the EYBL circuit yet… you absolutely need to get her on your radar, and I went out and saw her and he was completely right,” says Ivey.

Soni garnered interest from multiple schools around the North East United States, particularly Ivy League schools, but during a  sophomore AAU session, she took off and became a highly coveted recruit. 

“There’s about 100 scouts there to watch Caroline Ducharme (currently at UConn), and none of them knew about Soni. Sonia came out, scored about 30 points, defended Caroline well, and then after that, everyone’s running over and asking who that Citron girl is, and then everyone started calling,” says Bill.

It was around that same time that Soni met Olivia Miles for the first time, playing against one another at the Rose City Classic, a New York area All-Star game. 

Standing in line to get shoes and jerseys before the game, Miles and her father were waiting a few spots in front of Soni and Bill. Bill and Yakubu, Olivia’s father, started talking as Olivia and Soni stood by awkwardly, as they both put it. 

Soni would wind up winning MVP. She met up with her dad shortly after being awarded the MVP trophy.

“She said to me, Dad I don’t deserve this, Olivia should’ve got this… Liv had really been threading the needle and she was running the floor,” says Bill.

“It’s hard to have people recognize how good they are,” says Olivia of Soni.

The pair have incredible chemistry when they share the court, and that was clear from the first time they played. Olivia one of the best passers in the sport and Soni incredible with her timing and movement on cuts and relocation.

They knew of each other after Rose City, but really got to know one another when they bonded during USA Under 16 trials and competition.

“We had such a good connection, we just communicated out there and we were like hey where do you wanna go to school? And our values and goals matched so we thought it would be fun to play together,” says Olivia.

Both valued academics. Both wanted to play at a Power 5 level. They were both incredibly fond of Ivey and once she took the job to become head coach, they each committed within 2 days.

“I knew that was a very impactful 48 hours,” says Ivey.

They were her very first recruits, essential to the rebuild of the program. She’d recruited both to Notre Dame prior to leaving for her stint in the NBA, getting Miles on campus for a visit, and having been the first person to put Soni on the radar of the staff.

Miles and Citron were two of her very first calls once she took the job. Funnily enough, Ivey wasn’t aware at the time that they were a sort of package deal.

“It doesn’t happen like that to have a conversation and within a day Liv (commits), and the next day Soni...Coming in as a head coach I didn’t know most of their schools were very similar, that they wanted to play together…those were just the first two calls I made because I knew how important they were. When it happened I knew in the moment, this is big…I think as time goes on, I’m like, the facet that they trusted me and my vision, trusted in a first time head coach, they saw the bigger picture and really believed,” says Ivey.

A Genuine Soul

Soni and Olivia came to Notre Dame to propel the program. They want to reach the Final Four. They want to eventually win a National Championship. While they’re not where they want to be yet, each day is a new day and another chance to improve; trusting the process and buying into it is a huge part of playing for the Irish.

Each season has seen growth, a level raised, and the promise of what’s to come in the future while building in the present. It fits Soni’s personality to a tee. She embodies the process, a deep thinker and observer who wants to understand her surroundings and the individuals around her.

“She loves to learn and is a good listener, I think that helps her. When she does something, she’s a perfectionist; if you’re teaching her something she is going to learn it as well as she can,” says Yolanda.

Nat has seen those sparks of leadership from Soni burst into flames of connection since they first met. 

She loves music, and is always asking her teammates what they’re listening to and taking it in, finding a way to better understand and appreciate their perspectives  and interests.

“She’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had,” says Nat.

She illustrates the lengths of her loyalty, her generosity, how caring she is. She’s always offering teammates rides, asking them if they want to go get coffee, or just how they’re doing, always receptive to others’ feelings.

Ivey recalls whenever she and Soni spoke on the phone as she recruited her in high school that Soni would turn the conversation; how are you coach? How is your family?

“She will do anything for anyone, she is such a genuine soul,” says Mabrey.

“Anybody she crosses paths with will say something positive about Soni and that she had a positive influence on them.”

Soni has always brought that kindness and warmth to the table, as those around her point out, but her growth as an individual and in her own skin is what has impressed them most

Nat has seen her grow in how she’s able to pick herself up in all facets and her independence since she was a freshman. She’s always been comfortable doing her job, but now she’s more willing to step into the spotlight and take things head on.

“She’s matured to be like No, I can take the shot, I got it, I got you coach, she’s more assertive… she gained that experience the second half of last year,” says Ivey.

Soni is driven heavily by her family; she just wants to make them proud and give back for all they sacrificed and poured into her growing up. They are immensely proud. Bill and Yolanda admire her steadiness, something Bill readily admits did not come from him as he recalls numerous times getting upset in the stands as Soni was clobbered on the court and didn’t react.

They’re her ‘number one motivator’, says Soni.

“I don't think necessarily about what I want to accomplish, but I just know I want to do everything in my power to become the best person I can be,” she continues.

“I have what it takes to be a great player.”

While the sky is the limit for Citron, the present is what occupies her; being the best leader, friend, teammate, and daughter she can be is her central focus.

As she has continued to thrive and blossom as an individual, her team has only gotten better and will continue to do so as she unearths and recognizes the potential that those closest to her have long seen.