Allisha Gray is another solid player that will be participating in the Unrivaled league this January and her addition has somewhat flown under the radar. The Greenwood, South Carolina native really molded herself into a player from within her own household during her adolescence. As she grew up in South Carolina, she played against her older brothers everyday and that helped hone her competitive spirit, toughness, and skill. This would accelerate her growth as a player, especially in high school at Washington County and it rewarded her not only a McDonald’s All-American bid, but a scholarship to North Carolina as well.
At the beginning of her collegiate basketball career at UNC, she made an immediate impact and emerged as a young star. During her freshman year in 2013-14, Gray was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team as she displayed a true knack for putting the ball in the bucket. She averaged a total of 13.9 points per game in her first season and continued to improve in her sophomore year, becoming one of the team’s leading scorers. After two successful seasons at UNC, Gray transferred to the University of South Carolina where she would have to sit out the entire 2015-16 season due to the NCAA transfer rules. Once she was able to actually participate during her junior season in 2016-17 she picked up where she left off at UNC. Gray played a pivotal role in South Carolina’s run to the 2017 NCAA Championship, where they defeated Mississippi State in the final. In this incredible tournament run by the Gamecocks, she contributed 13 points and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.
After her only year at South Carolina, Gray declared for the 2017 WNBA draft where she was selected 4th overall by the Dallas Wings. In her debut season, Gray averaged 13 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. Her outstanding performance earned her the 2017 WNBA Rookie of the Year award, highlighting her as one of the league’s most promising new talents at that time. Since then, she has made a name for herself and has been named to 2 All Star teams. Now as a member of the Atlanta Dream, Gray is averaging 15.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. Gray is proving to be a key component of the Atlanta Dream’s offense with her 15.6 points per game. Her ability to operate at a high level within the mid-range and break down her primary defender is why I love her game. This is the element that she can mix in with her ball-handling ability to break down her defender in the Unrivaled league.
Let’s also not forget that she has also won a gold medal while representing the United States in an international 3v3 competition, which gives her the credible experience of already playing within this format. Gray will be a player to look at because she’s not talked about a whole lot, but she has the perfect play-style from the guard position that has the potential to be quite effective in the Unrivaled league.
