Alysha Clark
Alysha Angelica Clark (born July 7, 1987) is an American-Israeli professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). 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 was also League MVP in 2018 when her team CCC Polkowice (Basketball) 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. She is known for her swarming defense and clutch shooting.
Clark at Madison Square Garden in 2015 | |
No. 22 – Washington Mystics | |
---|---|
Position | Small forward |
League | WNBA |
Personal information | |
Born | Denver, Colorado | July 7, 1987
Nationality | American / Israeli |
Listed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
Listed weight | 167 lb (76 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Mount Juliet (Mount Juliet, Tennessee) |
College |
|
WNBA draft | 2010 / Round: 2 / Pick: 17th overall |
Selected by the San Antonio Silver Stars | |
Playing career | 2010–present |
Career history | |
2012–2020 | Seattle Storm |
2010–2011 | HaPoel Rishon LeZion |
2011–2013 | A.S. Ramat HaSharon |
2014–2016 | Maccabi Bnot Ashdod |
2016–2017 | Adana ASKİ SK |
2017–2018 | CCC Polkowice |
2018–present | ASVEL Basket |
2021-present | Washington Mystics |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats at WNBA.com |
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. She is Jewish according to Jewish law and one of her mother's parents is Jewish.[1] However, she was baptized as a child and identifies as a Christian.[2]
The family later moved to her hometown of Mount Juliet, Tennessee, where she attended Mt. Juliet High School.[3] At Mt. Juliet she was named Midstate Player of the Year by the Tennessean and Class AAA Miss Basketball as a senior. She averaged 24 points and 11.6 rebounds, shooting 67 percent from the floor and 78 percent from the free throw line as a senior.
College career
Before Clark attended Middle Tennessee State University, she played two years at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. At Belmont she helped the Lady Bruins to their first ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2007. After two years she transferred to Middle Tennessee. Clark sat out the 2007–08 season, as required by NCAA rules for transfer students. In 2008-09 she averaged a national best and school-record 27.5 points per game. The following year she averaged 28.3 points per game to lead the nation among Division I schools.[4] At Middle Tennessee she earned Sun Belt Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010.[5]
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,[6] but didn't make a roster that year or in 2011. In 2012, she signed with the Seattle Storm.[7]
She became a regular starter for the Storm at small forward in 2014, and has established herself as one of the best defenders in the WNBA, making the All-Defensive Team in 2019. On the offensive side of the ball, Clark has developed into one of the better shooters in the league; her 39.8% from beyond the arc is 12th all-time in WNBA history and second among active players. In 2019, she led the league with a 48.1% clip on three-pointers, and improved that to 52.2% in the condensed 22-game season in 2020.
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.[8] 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.[9]
Clark has won both the Polish Basket Liga Kobiet Basketball championship and MVP award with CCC Polkowice in 2018. In 2019, while playing with Lyon Asvel, she won the Ligue Féminine de Basketball championship.
Career statistics
WNBA
Source[10]
Legend | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
Bold | Career high | ° | League leader |
† | Denotes seasons in which Clark won a WNBA championship |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | Seattle | 23 | 0 | 10.3 | .547 | .450 | .706 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 3.4 |
2013 | Seattle | 33 | 0 | 15.3 | .453 | .390 | .760 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 4.0 |
2014 | Seattle | 34° | 22 | 16.5 | .448 | .246 | .696 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 4.2 |
2015 | Seattle | 33 | 31 | 23.1 | .544 | .353 | .775 | 3.7 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 6.9 |
2016 | Seattle | 33 | 32 | 27.6 | .484 | .387 | .847 | 3.7 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 9.0 |
2017 | Seattle | 33 | 33 | 28.3 | .525 | .328 | .745 | 4.2 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 8.2 |
2018† | Seattle | 31 | 30 | 26.2 | .480 | .392 | .846 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 7.4 |
2019 | Seattle | 31 | 30 | 28.4 | .481 | .481 | .818 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 9.6 |
2020† | Seattle | 22° | 22° | 28.8 | .558 | .522 | .800 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 10.0 |
Career | 9 years, 1 team | 273 | 200 | 22.9 | .500 | .398 | .787 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 6.9 |
Postseason
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Seattle | 2 | 0 | 18.5 | .455 | .333 | 1.000 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 7.0 |
2016 | Seattle | 1 | 1 | 28.0 | .333 | .000 | 1.000 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 |
2017 | Seattle | 1 | 1 | 26.0 | .667 | – | 1.000 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 |
2018† | Seattle | 8 | 8 | 35.0 | .500 | .458 | .875 | 5.9 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 8.5 |
2019 | Seattle | 2 | 2 | 28.5 | .143 | .200 | .857 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 4.5 |
2020† | Seattle | 6 | 6 | 30.5 | .453 | .348 | 1.000 | 6.5 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 10.3 |
Career | 6 years, 1 team | 20 | 18 | 30.6 | .451 | .373 | .926 | 5.5 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 8.4 |
College
Source[11]
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005-06 | Belmont | 30 | 599 | 54.3 | 22.7 | 74.5 | 10.9 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 20.0 |
2006-07 | Belmont | 30 | 510 | 58.0 | 36.4 | 74.4 | 12.7 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 17.0 |
2007–08 | Middle Tennessee | redshirt/transfer | |||||||||
2008-09 | Middle Tennessee | 34 | 935 | 60.7 | 41.4 | 79.0 | 9.8 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 27.5 |
2009-10 | Middle Tennessee | 29 | 821 | 61.4 | 32.1 | 77.7 | 11.6 | 3.4 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 28.3 |
Career | 123 | 2865 | 59.0 | 33.3 | 76.6 | 11.2 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 23.3 |
See also
References
- "Basketball / Profile / Welcome to the club - Haaretz - Israel News". Haaretz.com. January 6, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
- "Calm In The Storm". Default. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
- "MJHS Alumni Clark drafted in the WNBA". Archived from the original on May 19, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
- "NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Records Through 2013-14" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 15. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- "Alysha Clark's amazing journey". nashvillecitypaper.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- "Clark Shooting for Silver Stardom". Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
- "Clark evolves into star for Seattle Storm". ESPN.com. September 9, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- "SEA vs PHO". WNBA Stats. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- "SEA vs WAS". WNBA Stats. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- "Alysha Clark Career Statistics". wnba.com. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
- "Women's Basketball Player stats". NCAA. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com or Basketball-Reference.com
- WNBA Draft Prospect Profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 2010-04-11)
- Blue Raiders Player Profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 2010-05-01)