Allisha Gray Named WNBA Rookie of the Year

Sept. 19, 2017

COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” After helping lead South Carolina to the 2017 NCAA National Championship, guard Allisha Gray propelled her Dallas Wings into the playoffs and capped her season with WNBA Rookie of the Year honors, the league office announced today. The award made it unanimous as the Associated Press also bestowed that honor on Gray earlier this month.

“Super proud of Allisha for an incredible WNBA rookie season,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said. “It’s a much deserved award for a Gamecock who exemplifies great character, competes and wins at the highest level. From national champion to WNBA Rookie of the Year ââ’¬” it is so great to be a Gamecock!”

Gray received 30 votes from a national panel of 40 sportswriters and broadcasters. The fourth overall pick in the 2017 WNBA Draft, her selection broke a string of three-straight seasons of the overall top pick in the draft capturing the award. In fact, it is just the ninth time in the 20 years of the WNBA Draft that the first-round pick has not been named league rookie of the year.

Starting all 34 games for Dallas, which improved by five games over last season, Gray finished second among rookies in scoring (13.0 ppg) and rebounding (3.9 rpg). She also led first-year players in steals with 1.53 per game, which ranked seventh overall in the WNBA. The 6-foot Gray averaged a rookie-high 27.2 minutes per game, drawing WNBA Rookie of the Month honors in May and June. She scored in double figures in five of her first six games and grabbed a season-high nine rebounds twice in her first 12 games.

At South Carolina, Gray was named to the NCAA Final Four and Stockton Regional All-Tournament teams, averaging 16.5 points on 56.8 percent shooting during the NCAA Tournament, during which she also reeled in 8.3 rebounds per game. On the season, she was the Gamecocks’ second-leading scorer at 13.2 points per game to rank 19th in the SEC. Gray was also second on the team in steals (1.3 spg) and assists (2.5 apg). Starting 36 of 37 games, she finished with double-figure points in all but eight contests.

In honor of being named the 2017 WNBA Rookie of the Year, Gray will receive $5,000 and a specially designed trophy by Tiffany & Co. Fanatics Brand is commemorating Gray’s Rookie of the Year victory with exclusive T-shirts available tomorrow on WNBAStore.com.