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Former ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ point guard Aari McDonald signed with the Indiana Fever, the franchise announced on Monday. McDonald joins the Fever amid star guard Caitlin Clark recovering from a quad injury.

Clark, who suffered the injury on May 26, is expected to miss at least another week.

The Fever signed McDonald through an emergency hardship exception, after Indiana didn’t have 10 available players. The Fever also lost guards Sophie Cunningham (ankle) and Sydney Colson (leg) to injuries this week.

McDonald won’t be the only former Wildcat playing basketball in Indiana. The Indiana Pacers, which is about to play in the franchise’s first NBA Finals since 2000, has former UA guards T.J. McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin, who was a freshman during McDonald’s historic season in 2021, when she led the Wildcats to a national championship appearance.

Following an illustrious career at ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, where she was an All-American and was named the 2021 Pac-12 Player of the Year, McDonald became the highest-selected Wildcat in WNBA Draft history and was taken No. 3 overall by the Atlanta Dream. In her first season, McDonald was named to the All-WNBA Rookie Team.

Last year, McDonald and Atlanta’s eighth overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for the No. 12 overall pick and point guard Jordin Canada. McDonald re-signed with the Sparks, but didn’t make the final roster this season. McDonald averaged 8.6 points, 2.8 assists and two rebounds with the Dream and Sparks.

In 2023-24, McDonald signed with the Perth Lynx of Australia’s WNBL and became the league’s scoring champion, averaging 19.8 points per game.

“I have always been impressed with her ability to defend, her activity level on the defensive end of the floor, her ability to get to the paint and make decisions when she gets there,� Fever coach Stephanie White told reporters on Monday. “She’s a true point guard so she brings that energy, she brings the ability to dictate and she’s been really good so far.�

The Fever play the Dream in Atlanta at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10.