Alysha Angelica Clark (born July 7, 1987) is an American-Israeli professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In college, she led the NCAA in scoring three years in a row. She was drafted in the second round of the 2010 WNBA draft by the San Antonio Silver Stars. In 2018, Clark won a championship with the Seattle Storm as they swept the Mystics in the 2018 WNBA Finals, and in 2020 won her second championship as the Storm swept the Las Vegas Aces. She won her third WNBA championship with the Las Vegas Aces in 2023. She was also the Most Valuable Player in the league in 2018 when her team CCC Polkowice of Poland in the Basket Liga Kobiet Basketball won that league's championship. In 2019, she won a Ligue Féminine de Basketball championship with her French team, Lyon Asvel. Clark is known for her swarming defense and clutch shooting.
Early life
Clark was born in Denver, Colorado to Jan and Duane Clark, who were both musicians. She is the younger sister of American Idol contestant Corey Clark. Clark's maternal grandparents were Jews and could speak Hebrew.[1] However, she was baptized as a child and identified as a Christian.[2] It was not until she began playing in Israel that she was considered Jewish (her maternal grandparents were Jewish).[3][4] She subsequently began to explore her Jewish roots and became an Israeli citizen.[3]
The family later moved to her hometown of Mount Juliet, Tennessee, where she attended Mt. Juliet High School.[5] There, she played basketball, and as a senior averaged 24 points and 11.6 rebounds, while shooting 78 percent from the foul line and 67 percent from the floor.[6] She was named an AAU All-American, the 3A Miss Basketball, picked by the Tennessean as its Midstate Player of the Year, voted to the Girl's All-Southern Basketball Team by the Orlando Sentinel, named the Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year, named to the Tennessee All-Star Team, named Tennessee tournament Most Valuable Player.[6]
College career
Clark played her first two years of college basketball at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. At Belmont she helped the Lady Bruins[a] to their first ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2007. As a freshman, she led the conference in total points, field goals, and free throws, and was named Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, selected to the All-Atlantic Sun First Team and to the league's All-Freshman Team, and was named to the Atlantic Sun All-Tournament Team.[6] In 2006–07 she led the ASUN with 17.0 points per game, 12.6 rebounds per game, and a .580 field goal percentage.[7] She was named the Atlantic Sun Player of the Year for the second year in a row, and the Atlantic Sun Tournament Most Valuable Player.[6]
After two years she transferred to Middle Tennessee State University. Clark sat out the 2007–08 season, as then required by NCAA rules for transfer students.[b] In 2008–09, she led the NCAA with 27.3 points and led the Sun Belt Conference with 9.8 rebounds per game, led the conference and was 4th in the NCAA with a .609 field goal percentage, was 2nd in the conference with a .787 free throw percentage, and was 4th in the conference with 2.1 steals per game.[7] She was named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Player of the Year, and the Sun Belt Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.[6] Clark became the first basketball player ever to be named Player of the Year in two different Division I conferences.[8][c]
In 2009–10 she again led the NCAA, this time with 28.3 points per game, led the Sun Belt Conference with 11.6 rebounds per game, was 4th in the conference with 2.4 steals per game, and was 9th in the conference with 3.4 assists per game.[7][9] In her two seasons with the school she led NCAA Division I in scoring both seasons, was named to eight All-America teams, and was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player of the Sun Belt Championships in 2009 and 2010.[10][11] She was named to the Middle Tennessee Hall of Fame in 2020.[10]
Professional career
Clark was drafted with the 17th overall pick in the second round of the 2010 WNBA draft by the San Antonio Silver Stars,[12] but did not make a roster that year or in 2011.
Besides playing in the WNBA, she during the off season played on Ramat Hasharon of the Israeli National League from 2010 to 2013 (and was awarded the Domestic Player of the Year Award and selected to the All-Israeli First team during her first year).[3] In the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, she played for the Maccabi Ashdod, and was named the Player of the Year, Forward of the Year, and a First Team all-star.[3] Clark then played in Turkey followed by Poland for the next two years.[3] In 2018/19 and 2019/20, she played in France.[3]
In 2012, she signed with the Seattle Storm.[13] In 2019, she was named to the All-Defensive Second Team and in 2020 was chosen for the All-Defensive First Team.[3]
Clark in 2018
In 2018, Clark started every game of the Storm's WNBA Championship run. In Seattle's Western Conference Finals series against the Phoenix Mercury, Clark was the Storm's main choice to guard Diana Taurasi, and in the decisive Game 5, she also logged a double-double with 13 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.[14] In the Storm's championship-clinching win in the WNBA Finals against the Washington Mystics, Clark led the team in playing time, and added 15 points.[15]
In December 2022, Clark signed with the Israeli champions Elitzur Ramla, until the end of the season. She went back to training under Shira Halyon, who trained her in the past in the EuroCup.[17]
In February 2023, Clark signed with the Las Vegas Aces. On September 18, 2023, she won the WNBA Sixth Player of the Year Award.[18]
^Belmont has since dropped "Lady" from its women's team nicknames.
^Since the 2021–22 school year, first-time transfer students in Division I baseball, basketball, football, and men's ice hockey have been allowed to play immediately after transferring. This change placed those sports under the same rules that had long applied in all other Division I sports, as well as Divisions II and III.
