Alexis Gholston’s career as an NBA G League and WNBA athletic trainer seems promising, having started with an elective class during her sophomore year at West Valley.
Before graduation in 2011, the former Rams basketball and volleyball athlete spent time on the sidelines for football games and attended practices for other sports alongside Jeannie Martin-Turner, West Valley’s sports medicine teacher and athletic trainer since 1999.
Following her interest, Gholston worked in college athletics until May 2023, when she relocated to Indianapolis to work as an assistant athletic trainer for the Indiana Fever and Indiana Mad Ants for Pacers Sports & Entertainment. A little over a year later, the Fever selected Iowa star Caitlin Clark with the first overall pick.
Clark helped the team break attendance records in the league, earned Rookie of the Year, and got them back to the postseason for the first time since 2016.
Among the many other highlights of Gholston’s career thus far have been her work at the NBA All-Star game in Indianapolis and her travel to Cleveland for the NCAA Women’s Final Four, where she crossed paths with Seattle Storm star Sue Bird. “I used to go when Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson were performing,” remembered Gholston. “Those were perhaps some of my favorite and most memorable moments. It was so real for me to witness one of my basketball idols up close and personal, and she is really kind and modest.”
Martin-Turner often sees her students acquire an interest in health care through her lesson and end up going into the sector, especially in nursing. Though she doesn’t often witness them enter sports training, Martin-Turner was delighted to see Gholston develop into a skilled and informed professional.
Since Gholston moved out of Washington state, the two haven’t seen each other as much, but they still communicate, and Martin-Turner mentioned that she likes to follow Gholston’s progress on social media. then graduated from Eastern Washington with a bachelor’s degree in athletic training after moving away from the West Valley, and then went on to Sacramento State for her master’s in kinesiology.
After a brief internship with women’s rowing at the University of Kansas, she returned to Eastern Washington in 2018 to take her first full-time position as the athletic trainer for women’s basketball. She later moved to the University of Missouri, where she mostly supported the football team as an assistant athletic trainer.
“She’s probably got a lot more skills than I have because of her schooling,” Martin-Turner remarked. “I definitely think that her confidence has grown significantly with all the levels that she’s gone through.” Gholston’s mother, Alicia Garza, a longtime Yakima physical therapist assistant, served as some of the encouragement for her decision to attempt sports medicine.
Martin-Turner noted that Gholston was fortunate to have a lot of strong female role models in her life, namely Garza, who travels to Seattle to support the Fever and always spends the holidays with her daughter. When they both lived in Washington, Gholston would frequently contact with Martin-Turner at the Northwest Athletic Trainers’ Association, citing her desire to keep learning and progressing as the driving force behind her ability to build relationships that eventually led to jobs.
Martin-Turner said Gholston’s also showed her ability to acquire the trust of sportsmen, even pros who may be her own age or older. Going pro Gholston claimed that the switch from major college football to professional basketball was very simple due to her training, skill set, and degree of comfort in the sport. Though Gholston claimed the professional setting gives her a bit more personal time on a daily basis, the emphasis on keeping players fit and having them ready to play as soon as possible in a high-pressure situation is mostly unchanged. When athletes don’t have to worry about classes or other collegiate obligations, scheduling gets a little easier. Additionally, according to Gholston, the athletic training staff benefits from having more experience because it helps them develop relationships with players. “They are definitely very aware of their bodies, but it makes for more efficient time,” Gholston stated. “They can just get in, they can communicate to me more effectively what’s going on, what they’re feeling, what their concerns are and then we can just go from there and get a plan going and get them on track.” Gholston’s first season with Indiana ended in the WNBA playoffs, so she took a break before joining the Mad Ants. However, she returned to work ahead of the G League players to attend the Indiana Pacers training camp, giving them a great chance to pick the brains of NBA staff members. Despite falling in the opening round, the Mad Ants and Fever both made it to the postseason this season. Even so, Gholston relished the brief respite she received between seasons. She also took advantage of the WNBA’s Olympic hiatus, which allowed her to travel to Mexico with her mother after the WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix. Following their return, the Fever went on a tear, winning eight of their next ten games under Clark’s direction. Gholston stated that she is still in awe of some of the long 3-pointers that the two-time player of the year for women’s college basketball shot, and that Clark has consistently demonstrated a desire to engage with and return the favor to her large following. “She has a lot of maturity in that aspect and patience and grace with that and I think it’s a testament to everything that she’s had to deal with,” Gholston stated. “She knows where she started and she knows that she was a little girl once that looked up to players at this level.” Clark’s approach to working with the athletic training staff was also commended by Gholston, who said that the team’s youth benefits from Clark’s gregarious nature. Indiana’s future appears bright even after they were eliminated early from the playoffs. The WNBA All-Star Game will be held in Indianapolis with the Fever next summer, and Gholston is excited to continue her own personal development with both professional clubs. She intends to continue her career in the WNBA with the ultimate objective of becoming a head athletic trainer. “I want to ideally get back closer to home, work with a team more on the coast,” Gholston stated. “But so far I’ve kind of just trusted my gut and taken jobs where I feel like it would be best for me, and so I’m just going to continue to do that and see where I end up.”
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