The Making of “Lish”: Allisha Gray’s Journey From Sandersville to Atlanta Stardom
Two weeks before WNBA training camp, Allisha Gray found her peace the way she always has — out on a lake, fishing. It’s a habit rooted deep in her childhood, and it captures a side of her the public rarely sees: not the sharpshooting Atlanta Dream star, but simply “Lish.”
That grounding comes from Sandersville, Georgia, the small town where she grew up under the watch of both parents — her father also happened to be her high school principal. He described her as remarkably easy to raise, saying, “She was a blessing, a wonderful child, and she was always like she is now. She’s always done what she’s supposed to do, be where she’s supposed to be when she’s supposed to be there. There were just no issues as a parent.” Gray herself credited her parents’ sacrifices for her success, recalling AAU days when they’d drive four hours round-trip on weeknights just so she could practice.
Her high school dominance — three-time state Player of the Year and a junior season averaging 32 points — caught the attention of top programs nationally, including South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, who remembered her game standing out even then: “Lish is always working and never takes plays off. It’s been fun seeing her develop and getting better. With her, the better the competition she faces, the better she plays.” Sandersville still honors her today with a mural downtown, something Gray called a source of pride: “It just shows being a small town kid… if you put in the hard work, you can make it to the big stage as well.”
Gray’s college path wound through two schools. She started at North Carolina, where she met lifelong friend A’ja Wilson during a state fair mishap on an unforgiving amusement ride — a memory Wilson still laughs about. When Gray later transferred to South Carolina, the two became roommates and helped lead the Gamecocks to a 33-4 record and the program’s first national title in 2017. Staley called the pairing transformative, explaining how shifting Gray to the four spot alongside Wilson at the five “created a combo that was hard to beat… They elevated each other.”
Staley’s bond with Gray has endured well past graduation. Gray still stays at Staley’s house during visits to Columbia and calls her a lifelong presence: “It’s just cool that once I left South Carolina, the relationship stayed… Once you stop dribbling the ball for her, she’s not moving on to the next person. You have a relationship with her for life.” That family-like culture extends to the current roster, several of whom traveled to Atlanta this year to watch Gray and other Gamecock alumnae play — a tradition Staley described simply: “You take care of your sisters no matter how old or young you or they are.”
Professionally, Gray spent six seasons in Dallas before a 2022 trade brought her to Atlanta, a move she called an easy call: “I was with Dallas, and I was looking for a change in my career because I needed somewhere to spread my wings… I’m back close to home.” The trade also brought her closer to family, who now attend nearly every home game.
Her true breakout came at the 2024 All-Star Game in Phoenix, where she won both the Skills Challenge and 3-point contest — a first at the same event — and watched her public profile explode overnight: “I came in with like a couple of 1,000 followers, and then after All-Star break, I’m looking at like hundreds and hundreds of 1000s of followers.” Under new coach Karl Smesko’s fast-paced, shooting-heavy system, Atlanta surged to a franchise-record season and a No. 3 playoff seed, with Gray crediting the fit directly: “He just allows me to play free, and allows me to spread my wings and just play my game.” Smesko, in turn, praised her early buy-in: “Lish was one of the people that was willing to try anything right away… they were excited about it, and they wanted to give it a go.”
Despite a top-four MVP finish and All-WNBA First Team honors, a playoff loss to Indiana left Gray hungry for more, admitting, “I never want to experience that feeling again” — a motivation she now carries into this season alongside close friends and teammates Rhyne Howard and Naz Hillmon in Atlanta.
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