Step 1 in Free Agency, Storm re-sign Clark and O'Hea to new deals

February 1st was the official start of free agency in the WNBA.  And today, multiple announcements started coming out.  The Seattle Storm announced that they have re-signed Alysha Clark and Jenna O'Hea to multi-year deals.  Clark has been with the Storm since 2012 and has seen her role continue to increase each season. 

After the 2013, Tina Thompson told Alysha Clark in front of several Storm Crazies that she (Alysha) had no idea how truly good she was.  And she was going to do incredible things in this league if she can just come out of her shell.  Clark has continued to improve since that day.  Clark set career highs in points: 6.9 PPG, rebounds: 3.7 RPG and FG percentage: 54.5% this season.  Clark was also often tasked with guarding the opposing team's best player and has worked hard to become a lock-down defender.

"Alysha has become one of the most efficient and versatile players in the league, mastering the things that do not show up in stat sheets but lead to team success," said Storm head coach Jenny Boucek.  "Her work ethic, toughness, team-first mentality and basketball IQ make her a strong leader and role model for our franchise."

Jenna O'Hea has been playing with the Storm since the 2014 season and also set career highs in the 2015 season with 5.9 PPG and 2.4 assists per game.  She set a career high with 17 points this past season on June 25th, against the Minnesota Lynx.

"Jenna brings an elite work ethic, toughness and professionalism along with second-to-none humility and loyalty," said Coach Jenny Boucek. "She has expanded her game into a legitimate playmaking threat on the wing and we are thrilled to have her back in Seattle."

Despite the fact that the Storm have missed the playoffs and been at the bottom of the standings the past two seasons, the team likes their young core group of players they have.  This was evident by Seattle's General Manager's comments:

"Bringing back Alysha and Jenna was one of our top priorities," said Storm President and General Manager Alisha Valavanis.  "They have a strong connection with our fans, are both role models in the community and will continue to be important leaders on the team."

For full details on today's announcement and quotes by the players, please see the Storm press release here.


Other Notable WNBA signings so far:

- Minnesota Lynx re-signed Sylvia Fowles and Renee Montgomery
- Indiana Fever re-signed Shenise Johnson and Lynetta Kizer
- New York Liberty signed Shavonte Zellous and Carolyn Swords.