Arike Ogunbowale Signs Multi-Year Extension
The Dallas Wings have found the anchor for their team now and in the future in star guard Arike Ogunobowale, who signed a multi-year contract extension on Thursday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed per team policy, but the extension ensures Ogunbowale, the reigning WNBA All-Star Game MVP, is with the team through the 2025 season. She is currently in the last year of her rookie contract and the extension will kick in after this season.
“This opportunity with the Wings is a dream come true,” Ogunbowale said. “I want to thank Wings ownership, Greg Bibb, and (Coach) Vickie Johnson for their belief in me.
“I was excited when the Wings drafted me, and now having spent the first 3 years of my career here I’m proud to call Dallas home. I look forward a great future with the Wings organization.”
The Wings selected Ogunbowale with the fifth overall pick in the 2019 WNBA draft, and the Milwaukee, Wisc. native led the team with 19.1 points per game, the league’s third highest scoring average in the WNBA during her rookie campaign. In the 2020 season, she led the league in scoring with 22.8 points per game, becoming just the fourth player, and the fourth youngest player, in WNBA history to lead the league in scoring in one of her first two seasons. In three seasons, the former Notre Dame product has been named to the 2019 All-Rookie First Team, the 2020 All-WNBA First Team, the 2021 All-WNBA Second Team and was named MVP at the 2021 WNBA All-Star Game.
“First and foremost, I am so happy for Arike and her family that they will continue to call Dallas home and that she will remain as a centerpiece of our team and community,” said Head Coach Vickie Johnson.
“As a coach, you always want to be able to push your players and bring the best out of them on the floor and have them expect the same from you. Arike exemplifies this and she is an exceptional team leader on and off the court with the way she conducts herself and rallies her teammates
around her. We are all so excited to see her continue to bring her game to the next level and lead this team on many successful runs in the future.”
On July 5, 2021, Ogunbowale became the third fastest player to score 1,500 career points (74 games) while in the middle of recording the fifth longest double-digit scoring streak in WNBA history (65 games). Ogunbowale has totaled 1,730 points over the course of the past three seasons, the most points scored in the league in that time span and has played in every game but one (87 games). Since 2019, she is also second in the WNBA in three pointers made (185) and third in free throws made (373).
Wings Head Coach Named to USA Women’s Olympic Team Coaching Staff
Dallas Wings Head Coach Vickie Johnson was one of four WNBA coaches named to the coaching staff of the 2022 USA Women’s National Team training camp and FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament currently be- ing held now through Feb. 12th in Washington, D.C.
Head coach of the 2022 USA National Team is Cheryl Reeve, head coach of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx. In addition to John- son, other coaches named to the staff are Curt Miller (Connecticut Sun), Mike Thibault (Washington Mystics) and James Wade (Chicago Sky). The coaching staff was selected by the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Committee and approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors.
All four will serve as court coaches during the Feb. 5-9 training camp. Johnson and Thibault will assist on the bench during the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament from Feb. 10-12, while Miller and Wade will continue as court coaches and team scouts during the tournament.
“This is a really strong collection of WNBA coaches,” said Reeve. “They possess great minds for the game, strong connections to the players, USA Basketball experience, and I am looking forward to working with them.”
One of four world-wide sites selected by FIBA to host a FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament, the Washington, D.C., site features teams from the USA, Belgium and Puerto Rico competing Feb. 10-12. Puerto Rico will play Belgium on Feb. 10; the Feb. 11 contest features the USA against Belgium; and the women’s games conclude with a USA versus Puerto Rico clash on Feb. 12. All games will be held at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.
WNBA Hold Draft Lottery, Dallas Wings Will Pick Fourth
The Dallas Wings will pick fourth in the 2022 WNBA Draft Lottery. The team also has the sixth pick in the draft giving them multiple top-10 picks in consecutive years.
The 21st annual WNBA Draft Lottery was recently held during a 30-minute special on ESPN. The Washington Mystics won the lottery for the first time in franchise history and earned the top pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft which will be held April 2022.
The Indiana Fever, which had the most chances to win the top pick (442 out of 1,000), will have the second selection. The Atlanta Dream will select third after having the second-most chances to land the top pick (276). The Wings, which had 104 chances to receive the first pick, will choose fourth.
By missing the 2021 WNBA Playoffs, Indiana, Atlanta, Washington, and the Los Angeles Sparks qualified for the Lottery drawing. Dallas, however, had previously acquired Los Angeles’ own 2022 first round pick in a trade on April 14, 2021.
The Dallas Wings last year had the No. 1, 2, and 5th picks in the WNBA draft. They finished the season in 7th place (14-18) and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual WNBA champion Chicago Sky.
