Exclusive: WNBA Star Allisha Gray Is Engaged! All the Details From Her Surprise Proposal

March Madness had a different meaning for WNBA star Allisha Gray and her boyfriend, Tim Mangum Jr., this year. Mangum, a school psychologist, proposed to the Atlanta Dream guard on March 29, 2025, after orchestrating a fake magazine cover shoot, The Knot exclusively reveals. "I was very surprised," Gray tells us. "My agent texted me to propose a sibling photo shoot with my little sister, who played basketball at Alabama State. But she said, 'You have to wear a dress because they're looking for a cute, feminine shoot.' At first, I was skeptical because I could look feminine without being in a dress. But when my agent said my sister was 'bringing it,' I was like, 'I can't let her outdo me.'"

Admitting he was "very nervous" on the day of the proposal, Mangum pulled out all the stops to come up with a plan that would actually leave Gray speechless. "I had to be really creative because she is impossible to surprise," he says. "She asks so many questions and is so curious. I had to really think outside the box."

Photo: Clarke Baena

Read on to see all the photos and details from Allisha Gray's engagement, including what she's already dreaming up for her wedding day.

In this article:

• Tim Mangum and Allisha Gray's Engagement Photos & Details
• How Allisha Gray and Tim Mangum Met
• Inside Allisha Gray and Tim Mangum's Love Story

Tim Mangum and Allisha Gray's Engagement Photos & Details

Photo: Clarke Baena

When the time came to start planning the engagement, there was one specific task Mangum wanted to achieve: "I needed something to make her get her nails done without asking questions," he recalls. ("I never get my nails done," Gray confirms.)

Thanks to some help from her agent and her sister, Mangum convinced Gray to agree to the photo shoot—but in the days leading up to it, she went back and forth on just how glam she would get for the occasion. "The whole week prior, she was saying, 'I'm not about to wear a dress for this,' and, 'Should I get my nails done? I'm not gonna get my nails done,'" he recalls. "I said, 'I really think you should get your nails done. Because, after all, you'll be on a magazine cover.' I was stressed the whole week."

Photo: Clarke Baena

Luckily, the prospect of being "outdone" by her sister encouraged the athlete to go all out. "Tim knows that my little sister is one of the very few people who can convince me to do things, so she played a big part in it too," she says.

When she finally arrived, Gray immediately knew something else was happening: "I saw rose petals on the ground and I thought, 'What kind of photo shoot is this?'" Eventually, she found Mangum waiting for her surrounded by photos and the words "Marry Me" spelled out in marquee letters.

Although Mangum was so nervous he called Gray's father for advice shortly before the proposal, everything changed the moment he saw his wife-to-be. "When she walked around the corner, I could just feel all the emotions washing over me," he says.

Photo: Clarke Baena

Mangum popped the question with a princess-shaped diamond from Kay Jewelers—and although the proposal itself was a surprise, the ring was not. "I knew she liked princess diamonds," Magnum explains. "We designed one ourselves years ago, so I found a ring that looked almost identical to what we made."

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With the WNBA season set to kick off in May, she says that wedding planning may take a back seat until later in the year. But even just a few days into their engagement, the couple is already aligned on their top priority: "It's really just about celebrating our love," Mangum says, adding, "As long as the food is good and we have all our family and friends there."

How Allisha Gray and Tim Mangum Met

Photo: Clarke Baena

So, how did this WNBA love story begin? It's all thanks to A'ja Wilson. Allisha Gray and Tim Mangum met through mutual friends when they were college students. Gray and Wilson—a center for the Las Vegas Aces—grew close when they both attended the University of South Carolina. Meanwhile, one of Wilson's friends was living with Mangum, so they sparked up a virtual friendship. "A'ja and I FaceTimed a lot, and Allisha would be in the room because they were besties. She was always around," Mangum recalls.

Thanks to a little meddling, Wilson slowly brought Gray and Mangum together. "She showed me a picture of him and asked if I thought he was cute," Gray says. "I thought she was asking for her, but it was really for me."

Inside Allisha Gray and Tim Mangum's Love Story

Photo: Clarke Baena

It didn't take long for Allisha Gray and Tim Mangum to start dating. Considering they first connected in college, Mangum has been by her side long before she rose to stardom in the WNBA. "I'm just going along the route with her," Mangum says. "I see the side of her that everybody else doesn't get to see. She's a great person that just so happens to be great at basketball."

For Gray, having a supportive partner has made all the difference in her career. "I can talk to him about anything," she says. "It's nice that he knows the game of basketball, but if I need him at the drop of a dime, he will stop what he's doing to help me out. It means the world to have a fiancé like him."

Now looking toward the future, the couple says their biggest goal—besides planning the wedding of their dreams, of course—is one day expanding their family. "We've been together so long, and we've done pretty much everything except have kids," Mangum reflects. "We own a home together; We've moved from state to state; We've started our own businesses. [Getting married] adds a layer of validation and commitment to being with each other the rest of our lives."

Gray concurs, saying she wouldn't have done it any other way. "From the outside, people have asked why we hadn't gotten engaged after being together for so long, but I like that we took our time. We did it on our own terms when we were ready."