DHJ Quick Take: The Culture Architect
- The Bueckers Factor: The most telling detail of the offseason is Paige Bueckers‘ active role in recruiting a 15-year veteran. This isn’t just a second-year player finding her voice; it’s Bueckers taking “ownership” of the roster construction. Her push for Alysha Clark shows maturity and a drive to immediately surround herself with championship DNA.
- The Veteran Gamble: Alysha Clark choosing a team that went 10-34 is a key endorsement of Jose Fernandez’s reputation. Clark has seen what championship environments look like in Seattle and Las Vegas; her belief that Dallas is “trying to change the reputation of the organization” suggests the culture shift is already tangible inside College Park Center.
- The Miller Connection: Curt Miller has spent this offseason meticulously “sacrifice-proofing” the locker room. By bringing in Clark, Alanna Smith, and Jessica Shepard, he has prioritized high-IQ, “people-first” veterans to flank the Arike Ogunbowale and Bueckers core. Clark’s history with Miller during his Connecticut Sun tenure provided the trust necessary to make this move.
- No Guarantees: Despite her résumé, Miller was clear that Clark is “trying to win a spot” in a 17-player camp that will only get more crowded as overseas players arrive. This creates a high-stakes environment where even a three-time champion must prove her utility in Fernandez’s new aggressive defensive system.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Alysha Clark has achieved plenty in her WNBA career, including being a three-time WNBA champion, two-time All-Defensive Team selection, and 2023 Sixth Player of the Year. She picked the Dallas Wings, a team that went 10-34 in 2025 and hasn’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2008, because she believes in what’s building.
Clark explained why on Monday, after the second day of training camp at College Park Center in Arlington.
“The vision Jose has and his reputation as a coach,” Clark told Dallas Hoops Journal. “I’ve also known Curt for a long time. He’s always been supportive of me. Then there’s the young core they’re building. Paige was very vocal with me in the offseason. You can feel that they’re trying to change the reputation of the organization.”
The Paige Bueckers Recruiting Pitch
The detail Clark dropped about Paige Bueckers is notable. The reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year, entering just her second professional season, took an active role in recruiting a 15-year veteran to Dallas. That kind of ownership from a second-year player is not standard.
Bueckers hinted at growing leadership on Day 1 of camp, framing Year 2 as a step forward from the respect-first approach she took as a rookie in 2025.
“As a rookie, I wanted to gain respect, gel with the team, and not step on toes. Now it’s about taking ownership of who I want to be and what we want this team to be,” Bueckers said. “Coach Jose has emphasized how we want to perform, how we show up, taking every possession and practice seriously, and growing together. Being able to set that tone and be confident in it, I’ve grown a lot in that.”
Her recruiting push on Clark is an example of that shift, a second-year player actively helping reshape the locker room around her.
Clark, meanwhile, arrives with exactly the profile Dallas needs. She won titles with the Seattle Storm in 2018 and 2020, and a third with the Las Vegas Aces in 2023. She has been named to two All-Defensive Teams. She has started in playoff rotations and come off the bench as a Sixth Player of the Year. At every stage of her career, the teams she has been on have been known for culture and accountability.
Clark emphasized the appeal of helping to “change the reputation of the organization” when deciding to sign with the Wings. In previous iterations of the roster, they have tried to build a sustainable contender, navigating coaching changes and roster turnover in recent years. However, the current group Miller has constructed, returning Bueckers and Ogunbowale, reinforced by Smith, Sheppard, and Fudd, is the most complete group for Dallas in a while.
Curt Miller Was Drawn to Alysha Clark’s Leadership
Clark crossed paths many times during Miller’s eight seasons as head coach of the Connecticut Sun from 2016 to 2023, a stretch in which Connecticut made the playoffs every year and reached the WNBA Finals twice. Miller was named WNBA Coach of the Year in 2017 and Executive of the Year in 2021. Clark spent the bulk of that era with Seattle and Las Vegas, and the two sides of the Eastern and Western Conferences frequently met in meaningful games.
Miller, now in his second season as the Wings’ general manager, has reshaped the roster aggressively this offseason, re-signing Arike Ogunbowale to a multi-year extension, signing reigning Co-Defensive Player of the Year Alanna Smith to a three-year maximum deal, bringing back Awak Kuier after three seasons in Europe, adding Jessica Shepard after her league-leading 63.8% shooting season, and drafting Azzi Fudd No. 1 overall to reunite her with Bueckers.
Miller told Dallas Hoops Journal before camp that every addition had to meet a standard that went beyond production, and Clark’s profile as a locker room presence is exactly why she was brought in.
“We’ve accomplished without sacrifice what we wanted to do in the locker room. We wanted to continue to not only raise the talent level, but also maintain great chemistry with great culture, people first and foremost,” Miller told Dallas Hoops Journal.
Miller has also made clear that Clark is not a guaranteed roster lock. Dallas is carrying 17 players in camp with five more expected to arrive from overseas, and Miller framed Clark as one of the veteran wings competing for a spot as part of the solution to Dallas’s size concerns against bigger lineups.
“We’ll be small compared to some teams with bigger lineups, but we still have Maddy, we still have Alysha Clark trying to win a spot on the roster, and we have the ability to move Awak around,” Miller told Dallas Hoops Journal. “At times we’ll be small, but as Jose keeps mentioning, they have to guard us too when we are small.”
Clark gives Dallas a wing defender, a proven locker room presence, and a player who has been part of championship-level preparation at multiple stops.
Alysha Clark Helps Set Jose Fernandez’s Culture
Clark signed with Dallas to play for a first-year head coach, but Jose Fernandez is not a first-year basketball coach. He spent 25 years at the University of South Florida, where he became the winningest coach in program history and built the Bulls into a consistent NCAA Tournament program. He’s known as a detail-oriented, accountability-first coach, which enticed Clark to join the Wings.
“There’s a culture identity here. It starts with Jose,” Clark said. “He’s very detail-oriented and an accountable coach. If there’s a mistake, you own it in that moment, learn from it, and be better. That trickles down to everyone. Everyone understands the standard.”
Fernandez has made clear in the first two days of camp that his defensive standards are non-negotiable. Dallas has installed half-court defensive principles centered on aggressive principles. Clark, one of the league’s best help defenders throughout her career, said the switchability and physicality already evident on the Wings roster are among the group’s most exciting traits.
“The versatility and physicality stand out right away,” Clark told Dallas Hoops Journal. “Being able to switch across multiple positions and having bigs who can guard on the perimeter is a luxury. The physicality piece is big. That’s something coach emphasizes. You’ve got to have toughness. That’s how I play, so I feel right at home.”
Up Next
The Wings are back on the floor Tuesday in Arlington before an off day Wednesday, with Fernandez and his staff continuing to evaluate the roster.
Dallas tips off the 2026 regular season Saturday, May 9, at 12 p.m. CT in Indianapolis against the Indiana Fever, with the home opener set for Tuesday, May 12, at 7 p.m. against the Atlanta Dream at College Park Center.
More Wings Coverage on Dallas Hoops Journal
- ‘A Bright Future’: Alanna Smith Details Picking Dallas Wings In Free Agency, Expanding Her Game
- ‘A Dream Come True’: Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd Realize Decade-Long Journey To Dallas Wings Backcourt
- Dallas Wings Training Camp Day 2 Interviews: Jose Fernandez, Alysha Clark, Maddy Siegrist And Odyssey Sims
- Dallas Wings Training Camp Day 1 Recap: Jose Fernandez Sets Tone With ‘No-BS’ Culture
- ‘She Better Shoot The Damn Ball’: Jose Fernandez Challenges Azzi Fudd On Day 1 Of Training Camp
- ‘Landed Where I Was Meant to Be’: Azzi Fudd Introduced By Dallas Wings, Embraces New Journey
- Exclusive: Curt Miller On The ‘New-Look’ Dallas Wings, Frontcourt Chemistry, And Azzi Fudd’s Elite Ceiling
