Aari McDonald leaves European team Uni Gyor (Updated)

Former Arizona point guard Aari McDonald went directly from her senior campaign with the Wildcats to the WNBA. After a challenging rookie season with the Atlanta Dream, she immediately headed to Hungary for her first European season with Uni Gyor. Just three games into her tour with the team, the organization announced that she had left to return to the U.S.

In a statement on the team’s website on Oct. 16, the president of the organization wrote in part (translated from Hungarian):

Typically, such announcements begin with our player leaving our club by mutual consent for privacy reasons and wishing them success in their future careers. This time, however, we don’t want to cover up the reality, because without any precedent, to our complete surprise, Aari McDonald announced late last night that she will not continue this year’s championship and will be traveling back to the United States early this morning.

Both the management, the professional staff and the players were shocked by the facts as she did not justify her decision to us. Our club, as before, has complied with all its contractual obligations.

McDonald last appeared with the squad in a Euro Cup game on Oct. 13. She had a line of 27 points, five rebounds, and two assists in just under 36 minutes of play. She had also appeared in two Hungarian league games for the team.

Attempts were made to contact McDonald’s agency for comment, but no reply has been received. If comment is made at a later time, this story will be updated.

UPDATE: McDonald's agent replied stating that an agreement has been reached with the team. She posted the following on Instagram and asked that it be her official statement.