From a college star for two different teams to WNBA draftee to international star to WNBA role player to budding leader.

Alysha Clark’s path has been anything but typical and now, in her fourth season in Seattle, has been thrust into a leadership role and emerged as one of the team’s loudest voices.

In her first three seasons with the Storm, Clark had been one of the younger players on the team and played behind several veterans who helped to show her the ropes. Sue Bird, Camille Little, and Tina Thompson to name a few.

But in an offseason that saw a complete roster overhaul, she quickly saw herself go from one of the youngest to one of the oldest players on the team. At the end of the 2014 season, Clark was younger than all but one of her teammates. Now she is older than seven.

“I had no idea until I got here and saw the roster,” Clark said. “I was talking to Jenna [O’Hea] and asked, ‘When did 27 become old?’ and she said, ‘I have no idea. We’re the old one’s now.’

“We’ve always had vets here who have been the vocal leaders. I’ve always been a leader in terms of how I work but never so vocal. This year, I have to really be vocal and [Head Coach] Jenny [Boucek] really relies on us to set examples and set the pace.”

“Alysha’s got really powerful leadership attributes that are just natural,” Boucek said. “We’ve always seen that from Alysha but she’s also been respectful of her place on our team relative to other players.

“I think that is a sign of a great leader. Great leaders can also follow. They have a sense of what is needed.”

In practice, Clark became the one pulling teammates aside and showing them how to run plays. She became the one making sure they were ready to go. In games, she finds herself directing traffic and getting in the right spot at the right time.

Her experience as an assistant coach for her alma mater, Middle Tennessee State, in 2013-14 helped make that transition.

“Being a 26-year-old coach to girls who are 21, 22, it helped me establish that type of relationship,” Clark said. “We’ve got Jewell [Loyd] and Kaleena [Mosqueda-Lewis] and they’re the age of those girls that I was coaching. I know how they operate, I know where they’re coming from in terms from the college level.

“It helped me prepare to not be scared to be a vocal leader. As a coach, you have to talk. You can’t be a mute coach. It really set me up for the position that I’m in now.”

While she has become that vocal leader, the work ethic that has gotten her to this point has not been phased. After working extensively with coaches and getting to flush out any mistakes while playing at the 3-spot for Maccabi Ashdod (Israel) this winter, her career seems to have turned a corner as she has been making the transition from being a post player in college to being a wing player in the WNBA.

She has nearly doubled her career averages by tallying career bests in points (7.6), rebounds (4.3), and minutes (24.2) and is shooting 58.7 percent from the field.

“She has really made the transformation from a post player to a guard,” Boucek said. “She is now learning who she is as a pro basketball player and when you truly know who you are, it brings great confidence.”

“It’s been a long journey,” Clark said. “As a post player, you play with your back to the basket most of the time and so reading and seeing the floor is a lot different than facing the court. It took hours of workouts with my trainers. Working on pull ups, working on facing the basket, finding ways for me to get comfortable.

“Six years in the making and it’s still going. I have a lot of room to improve.”

Clark has always fought for what she has had. She went to two different mid-major universities, was drafted in the second round, had to play overseas for two seasons before making a WNBA roster, changed positions, and now is one of the more important players for Seattle.

“I’ve had a career where I’ve constantly had to prove that I should be somewhere,” Clark said. “I don’t mind working hard, putting the work in because at the end of the day, I can say no one gave me anything. I didn’t have someone handing me stuff and I came in and worked day-in and day-out and it shows.

“I’m thankful for that because it makes me appreciate everything.”