DHJ Quick Take: The Numbers Game
- The 12+2 Expansion: Under the new WNBA collective bargaining agreement (CBA), Dallas now has more flexibility with 12 guaranteed spots plus two developmental slots. This “14-player ceiling” is a lifeline for younger prospects, who might have been cut in previous years but now offer “Developmental” upside.
- Ogunbowale’s “Winner-Take-All”: With Arike Ogunbowale‘s Sichuan team facing a Game 5 in Shanxi on Saturday, her arrival in Arlington is officially set for the final week of April. Her transition from the WCBA finals directly into Wings camp will be the ultimate test of the “Championship Conditioning” Fernandez has been preaching.
- The Italian Factor: The Famila Wuber Schio vs. Venezia series is the most critical logistical hurdle left. If Schio falls on Thursday, Jessica Shepard and Costanza Verona will finish their season. Otherwise, a potential Game 3 would delay the process.
- Roster Cuts: Waiving Shyanne Sellers and Grace Sullivan signals that the roster spots are already highly competitive, even before the five players return from abroad.
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Dallas Wings waived guard Shyanne Sellers and forward Grace Sullivan on Wednesday, the team announced, trimming the training camp roster from 22 to 20 as Dallas continues the first stretch of camp under first-year head coach Jose Fernandez.
Sullivan began her college career at Bucknell University from 2022 to 2024 before transferring to Northwestern University, where she starred during her final two collegiate seasons. As a senior, the 6-foot-4 forward averaged career highs of 21.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game, earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors from the media and Third Team All-Big Ten honors from the coaches. Sullivan finished the 2025-26 season ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 13th nationally in scoring.
Sellers arrived in Dallas after being selected 17th overall by the Golden State Valkyries in the 2025 WNBA Draft out of the University of Maryland. The 6-foot-2 guard appeared at training camps for the Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream but was waived before the 2025 regular season. At Maryland from 2021 to 2025, Sellers earned First Team All-Big Ten honors from 2023 to 2025, All-Big Ten Defensive Team recognition in 2023, and Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year in 2022. Most recently, Sellers played with Israeli club Maccabi Haifa during the 2025-26 season, averaging a team-high 21.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.3 steals over 23 appearances.
The Wings have until May 7 to finalize their 2026 opening day roster. Teams carry 12 guaranteed roster spots under the new collective bargaining agreement, with the option to carry up to two developmental players. That gives Dallas a maximum of 14 active-roster slots and a current training-camp pool of 20 to choose from, with five of those 20 still to arrive due to overseas commitments.
Five Players Completing Overseas Obligations
Dallas is still waiting on five players to report to camp due to overseas commitments. Arike Ogunbowale, Jessica Shepard, Awak Kuier, Costanza Verona, and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu are all late arrivals, and each is on a different timeline due to overseas obligations. Exact dates for any of their arrivals have not yet been released, but there is information to consider about each player’s situation.
There are visa and travel logistics considerations for a few players who have already finished competing elsewhere. Kuier finished her season with Galatasaray in Turkey on April 19. Meanwhile, Fankam Mendjiadeu won the Serbian Cup with Crvena Zvezda on Wednesday, ending her European season.
Ogunbowale’s Sichuan team fell 87-80 to Shanxi at home in Game 4 of the 2025-26 Women’s Chinese Basketball Association Finals on Wednesday, pushing the best-of-five series to a decisive Game 5 back in Shanxi on Saturday at 6:30 a.m. CT. Ogunbowale has been one of Sichuan’s key pieces throughout the WCBA playoffs, averaging 16.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. She opened the WCBA Finals with 18 points in Game 1, a performance that included a buzzer-beating three-pointer to close the first quarter.
Both Shepard and Verona play for Famila Wuber Schio in Italy and are still active in the Italian Serie A1 Women’s Finals. Schio is facing Umana Reyer Venezia in the championship series, and the Venetian side stole Game 1 on the road at the PalaRomare on Monday, 71-60. The Game 1 defeat also snapped Schio’s undefeated run in Italian national competitions this season after it had already claimed the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa. The Italian Serie A1 Finals are best-of-three this season, a format reduced from the usual best-of-five due to Reyer Venezia‘s participation in the Euroleague Women Final Six. Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday, April 23, at the Taliercio in Venice. Because Venezia leads 1-0, a Schio loss ends the series and the season. A Schio win forces a decisive Game 3 on Sunday, April 26, back in Schio.
What This Means for the Dallas Wings’ Roster
With Sellers and Sullivan out, the training camp group in the building drops to 15 active players, barring a change in status. That’s a manageable group for Fernandez as he continues to install his system, but it also underscores how limited the sample is right now, given that five players are still abroad.
Among the 20 players currently on the roster before cuts, including Paige Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale, Azzi Fudd, Alanna Smith, Jessica Shepard, Awak Kuier, Maddy Siegrist, Li Yueru, Aziaha James, Alysha Clark, Odyssey Sims, Grace Berger, JJ Quinerly, Amy Okonkwo, Rayah Marshall, Lindsay Allen, Zee Spearman, Kyla Oldacre, Costanza Verona, and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu.
The Wings have two exhibition games between now and the May 9 regular season opener. The preseason opener is April 30 on the road against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Dallas opens the regular season in the same building on May 9.
More Wings Coverage on Dallas Hoops Journal
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- ‘She’s A Pro’: Paige Bueckers Is Built Different In Year 2, And Jose Fernandez Says It Will Show In Clutch Time
- ‘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
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- 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
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