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Three days after parting ways with the Connecticut Sun, Stephanie White quickly landed on her feet with the Indiana Fever.
“I am incredibly proud and honored to return home to Indiana and lead the Fever during such a pivotal moment in this franchise’s history, as well as during such an important time throughout women’s athletics,” White said in a statement. “This franchise has and always will be committed to winning and I look forward to working every day to help deliver another WNBA title to the greatest basketball fans in the world.”
ESPN’s Alexa Philippou first reported the Fever had hired White as their new head coach after the team made its first playoff appearance in eight years on the strength of Caitlin Clark’s debut season that earned her Rookie of the Year honors.
Indiana had an opening at head coach after parting ways with Christie Sides on Oct. 27. She went 33-47 overall in two seasons and led the team to a playoff berth in 2024.
The Sun’s decision to move on from White came as a surprise because the team was incredibly successful during her two-year stint as head coach. She led them to a 55-25 record with back-to-back appearances in the WNBA playoff semifinals.
Connecticut’s 2024 season came to an end with an 88-77 loss to the Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 of the semifinals.
Sun president Jen Rizzotti told Philippou the organization and White “parted on good terms because some of [White’s] decision-making process was not just about basketball.”
White, who earned Coach of the Year honors in her first season with the Sun, is returning to Indiana where she played four years of college basketball at Purdue and four years playing for the Fever from 2000 to ’04.
After White’s playing career ended, she moved into coaching. The 47-year-old’s longest stint as a coach so far was with the Fever from 2011 to ’16. She originally joined the team as an assistant on Lin Dunn’s staff before taking over as head coach in 2015 after Dunn retired.
The Fever advanced to the WNBA Finals in White’s first season, losing to the Lynx in five games. She left the team to become Vanderbilt’s head coach after the 2016 season.
Of the seven head-coaching vacancies in the WNBA this offseason, the Fever job was arguably the most desirable. They already have two young stars on the roster in Clark and Aliyah Boston.
Clark’s impact on the offense was immediate, as they finished third in points per game and rating during the 2024 season.
As long as the Fever can improve their defensive efficiency—they have finished in the bottom three in that category every year since 2017—they are going to have a path to being a title contender.
In White’s four seasons as a WNBA head coach, her teams haven’t finished lower than sixth in defensive rating.
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