The Dallas Wings announced Tuesday that WNBA veteran Alysha Clark agreed to a one-year deal with the team. Clark, a two-time All-Defensive selection and the 2023 Sixth Player of the Year, will join the Wings from the Mystics. She was also part of Seattle's championship-winning 2018 and 2020 teams as well as the Las Vegas Aces' championship-winning team in 2023.
Signing Clark was a bold move that will give the Wings the veteran leadership the team — and especially Arike Ogunbowale — has needed. The move also signals a culture shift in Dallas, and strongly implies the team is taking steps to make sure this year's locker room is a good one.
Clark's impact will be felt most powerfully on the defensive end of the floor, and she'll offer rookies nearly unparalleled insight into what a longterm career in the WNBA really looks like.
The Dallas Wings made big free agency moves
The Wings have enjoyed a successful free agency this season. In addition to Clark, the team also signed Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard, and Ogunbowale re-signed her own deal Sunday. The team also drafted UConn Huskies graduate Azzi Fudd as the No. 1 overall draft pick this week, their second No. 1 pick in a row.
Fudd will play alongside her former UConn teammate Paige Bueckers. The pair first met when they both tried out for USA Basketball's U16 national team in 2017, and Bueckers played a role in recruiting Fudd to the Huskies.
Ogunbowale's decision to return to the Wings is also a positive one for the team. Ogunbowale was drafted by the Wings as the No. 5 overall pick in 2019 and has since gone on to become one of the most successful and highly decorated athletes in the WNBA. She will begin this season as the franchise's all-time leader in points, field goals made, three-pointers made and free throws made, and is only 42 assists and 50 steals away from overtaking the team's records in those respective skills.
Ogunbowale averaged 15.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.3 steals across 29 regular-season games before missing several games due to injury.
The Wings fired 2025's coach Chris Koclanes at the end of a disappointing 2025 season that saw them ranked at the bottom of the league. The Wings announced the hiring of former University of South Florida coach Jose Fernandez in October 2025. Fernandez previously spent 25 seasons with USF.
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