On Wednesday, the WNBA announced its Players of the Month for May. Both the Eastern and Western Conference awards went to the same program. Not the same team — the same college program. Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks produced both of the best players in professional women’s basketball last month, and the numbers behind that statement are staggering.
Allisha Gray Is Having A Career-Defining Season — And Nobody Is Talking About It
Gray has quietly been one of the most dominant players in the Eastern Conference, and May finally put the spotlight where it belongs. She led the Atlanta Dream to a 5-2 record, averaged 20.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, ranked second in the Eastern Conference in scoring, and led the entire conference in plus-minus rating. She scored 20 or more points in four of Atlanta’s first seven games of the month.
This is not a new trend for Gray — it’s a pattern of sustained excellence that the broader basketball conversation hasn’t fully absorbed. She has now won the Player of the Month award four times in her career. Last season, she became the first guard in WNBA history to win the award three times in a single season. Let that sink in. Not the first player. The first guard — ever.
Gray doesn’t benefit from the same marketing apparatus as the league’s biggest stars, but her production speaks a language that needs no translation. She is one of the most decorated monthly performers in the history of the league, and she is doing it right now, in real time.
A’ja Wilson Is Simply Rewriting The Record Book At This Point
If Gray’s month was remarkable, Wilson’s was historic — again.
The Las Vegas Aces went 5-3 in May, and Wilson was the engine of everything. She averaged 24.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game. She shot 52.1% from the field. She led the entire WNBA with a 60% three-point shooting clip. She put together six consecutive games with 20 or more points.
And then there’s the moment that stopped the sport cold: on May 15 against the Connecticut Sun, Wilson dropped 45 points — making her the only player in WNBA history with multiple 45-point games. Not one of the players. The only player.
This Player of the Month award was Wilson’s 14th — a league record she now owns outright. Fourteen. In a league that has been operating since 1997, no player in history has dominated a single month more often than A’ja Wilson. Her Nike partnership, her four MVP awards, and her global profile all make more sense when you stack the raw numbers behind them.
They Went Head-To-Head — And It Delivered
Perhaps the most fitting subplot of May came on the 17th, when Gray and Wilson shared the same court as opponents. The Aces edged the Dream 85-84 in a game that could have gone either way. Wilson put up 20 points and six rebounds. Gray answered with 25 points and nine rebounds in a losing effort.
Two former Gamecocks. One-point margin. Both putting on a show on a national stage. The game itself was a microcosm of what South Carolina’s program produces — players who compete at the highest level, even when facing each other.
What This Means For Dawn Staley’s Legacy
This is not an accident. South Carolina has sent a generation of players into the WNBA who aren’t just contributing — they’re leading. Wilson is the best player in the world. Gray is one of the most decorated monthly performers in league history. And there is an entirely new wave of Gamecocks working their way through the pipeline right now.
No program in women’s college basketball has a stronger argument for its professional impact than South Carolina. When both conference Player of the Month awards go to the same alma mater on the same day, that isn’t a coincidence — that’s a culture.
Dawn Staley didn’t just build a dynasty in college. She built a factory for the future of the entire sport.
