Allisha Gray is Excited to Finish What She Started

April 30, 2018

Allisha Gray is finishing what she started, and then she hopes to pick up where she left off. Gray helped South Carolina women’s basketball win its first NCAA National Championship in 2017, and then earned WNBA Rookie of the Year honors with the Dallas Wings last summer. She came back to Columbia in the fall to finish her degree in broadcasting, attended USA Basketball Women’s National Team training camp earlier this month, returned to Dallas to get set for training camp, and Gray is proudly coming back to campus again in May to walk across the stage and receive her diploma.

“I’m coming back. I’m not missing graduation for anything,” Gray beamed. “I did all of this hard work, and this is going to be one of the best moments of my life.”

Having only been out of school for a few months last summer with the WNBA, it wasn’t too big of an adjustment to transition from professional athlete back to being a student. In fact, this last year of classes has made an impact on where she can see herself whenever her playing days are over.

“It’s going well. I’ve been in front of the camera, and I’ve been in the control room, and I’ve been able to work the cameras,” Gray said. “You get the whole experience of being in a news room. When I first got into it, I was wanting only to be behind the camera, but now I enjoy everything. The sports part of it is my favorite part, and being in front of the camera isn’t so bad after all.

“At first, I was shy, but this class had slowly but surely made me lose my shyness. I never knew that in the sports block, you can produce your own show and talk about what you want to talk about. That made it more relatable and fun for me.”

I just want to continue to improve and pick up where I left off. I’ve put a target on my back after winning Rooke of the Year.

Allisha Gray

Gray had an opportunity to do some job shadowing this year with ESPN crews while they were broadcasting South Carolina basketball games in Colonial Life Arena.

“We toured the truck, and I shadowed (analyst) Debbie Antonelli and (play by play announcer) Paul (Sunderland),” Gray said. “I watched them do their thing, and I started to think I can do this.”

Gray didn’t mind being a spectator at South Carolina games this year, and she was more than happy to help her best friend and former teammate, A’ja Wilson, who was recently the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 WNBA draft by the Las Vegas Aces.

“She asked me questions here and there, but I had told her to just enjoy the experience because you only get to do it once,” Gray said. “It’s a great experience. It’s a once in a lifetime thing. I was blowing (former Gamecock) Tiffany Mitchell‘s phone up about what to expect, and she prepared me pretty well for the draft and for training camp. She played a big part in helping me adjust to the league.

“I just remember being nervous on draft night. It was crazy because I had no idea where I was going. With the fourth pick, the cameras came to my table, and I looked at my dad in shock. When I heard my name, I got up and my hands were so sweaty. I didn’t want to shake anybody’s hand!”

With Wilson in Las Vegas, Mitchell in Indiana, Alaina Coates in Chicago, and Kaela Davis with her in Dallas, Gray enjoys the fact that she will be playing with or against former Gamecocks, who were also teammates at South Carolina, on a regular basis, especially because they have an agreement where the loser of the head to head matchups must buy dinner.

“It’s great. It means a lot of free food,” Gray laughed. “I hope I have a lot of free meals this year. I’m going to buy the most expensive thing on the menu.

“A’ja’s different because we’re both goofy when we see each other. We just laugh at each other. We’ll probably just be laughing the whole time. I’m just looking forward to playing against her this season.”

After a stellar rookie season, Gray knows she’ll be a marked woman during the 2018 season.

“I just want to continue to improve and pick up where I left off,” Gray said. “I’ve put a target on my back after winning Rooke of the Year. I don’t want to fall off the radar. I’ve been in the gym working hard all year.”

Part of that time in the gym has been with South Carolina and NBA legend, Alex English.

“We were both at a basketball game, and he came over to me to introduce himself,” Gray said. “He offered to train me, and I’m not passing up a chance to be trained from a Hall of Famer. He knows the game. From there, we started working out. He’s very nice.”

With degree in hand, Gray is ready for year two as a pro. After the WNBA season she, like many others in the league, may look to play professionally overseas as well, and she wouldn’t mind having at least one of her former South Carolina teammates on the same team in that venture.

“That might get a little crazy if A’ja and I played together overseas,” Gray laughed. “We might turn the plane upside down on the flight over there.”