The WNBA and the Women's National Basketball Player's Association found common ground on a new collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, on March 18, just 51 days ahead of the regular season's tipoff. Headlining a long list of paydays around the league are Gamecock alumnae, with both of the league's newly highest-paid players hailing from the University of South Carolina.
In 2025, the league-wide salary cap sat at $1.5 million, a total to be divided up among each team's entire roster. Under the new CBA, that salary cap will start at $7 million in 2026, a 366.67% increase. The league's supermax will begin at $1.4 million, up from under $250,000 in 2025. The average salary will be nearly $600,000, up from $120,000 in 2025, while the minimum salary will surpass $300,000, up from $66,079 from 2025.
Most players around the WNBA strategically signed deals that expired following the conclusion of the 2025 season. Over 80% of the WNBA — more than 100 players in total — hit free agency in 2026, including some of the greatest players to ever come through the women's basketball program at South Carolina.
Allisha Gray
Three-year, $3.7 million deal with Atlanta Dream
The first of three major deals for former Gamecocks came when the Atlanta Dream and guard Allisha Gray agreed to a three-year deal with a total value of $3.7 million. Gray is one of just three guards in the WNBA to earn a top-10 contract in terms of total value, and she's the only guard over 30 years old to do so.
Gray played her junior season at South Carolina after two seasons playing up the road at Chapel Hill with the Tar Heels. Her lone season in garnet and black was the 2016-17 campaign that landed the Gamecocks their first national championship in program history.
Selected fourth overall by the Dallas Wings, Gray was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2017. She eventually found her way to Atlanta via trade in 2023 and has since flourished with the Dream. She's posted scoring averages of 17.1, 15.6 and 18.4 points per game in each of the last three seasons, all larger totals than in any of her previous six seasons in Dallas.
In 2025, Gray earned All-WNBA First Team honors for the first time, in addition to being recognized as a top-four MVP candidate. The Dream won a franchise-best 30 games last season.
Her annual income of $1.23 million makes her the 12th highest paid player in the league annually, while the total value of $3.7 million ranks as the 10th highest in the WNBA.
"It was an easy choice for me to want to come back," Gray said.
A'ja Wilson
Three-year, $5 million deal with Las Vegas Aces
No player in the league may have deserved to benefit more from the new CBA than former Gamecock great A'ja Wilson. The 29-year-old forward is the first-ever WNBA player to win Most Valuable Player four times. She's led the Aces to three league championships since joining the franchise in 2018.
Drafted first overall in 2018, Wilson was the league MVP by her third season in the WNBA. She went on to win the award in 2022, 2024 and 2025 as well. Two of those MVP seasons aligned with league championships, with the third coming in 2023.
Wilson is a seven-time WNBA All-Star, a five-time All-WNBA first team member, a three-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time scoring champion. In 2025, she was named the AP Female Athlete of the Year.
On April 15, Wilson signed a historic three-year supermax contract worth $5 million. The contract is fully guaranteed and the highest annual salary in the WNBA at $1.67 million per year. For comparison, Wilson made a base salary of $200,000 for the 2025 season. She provided a brief statement following her extension.
"YKWTFGO," Wilson said.
Aliyah Boston
Four-year, $6.3 million deal with Indiana Fever
The richest contract in the history of women's basketball belongs to former Gamecock center Aliyah Boston. On April 17, Boston became the first player in WNBA history to agree to a contract under the Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract provision. The provision allows for players who earned All-WNBA or MVP honors to earn more money earlier than their current contract would allow for.
In her time with South Carolina, Boston set program career records in rebounds, double-doubles, triple-doubles and games started. She ranks second in program history for blocks and fifth in scoring. She won a national championship with the program in 2022 and touted a career collegiate record of 129-9 in four seasons as a Gamecock.
Drafted first overall in 2023, Boston enters her fourth season in the WNBA as a league-best player. She led the Fever to the Eastern Conference finals in 2025 despite the team being without superstar guard Caitlin Clark, earned All-WNBA second-team recognition and placed sixth in MVP voting last season.
The $6.3 million value of Boston's contract is $1.3 million more than the next closest deal — Wilson at a total of $5 million. The pair of Gamecock alum are the league's only two players with total contract value over $3.75 million.
“Once the CBA was finalized, my agent handled all of that," Boston said. "I’d just sit back, watch a good show and wait for him to call me.”