Per Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times, multiple sources expect the Indiana Fever to hire current Connecticut Sun head coach Stephanie White as the Fever’s next coach.
White has close ties to Indiana senior advisor Lin Dunn and new Fever president of basketball and business operations Kelly Krauskopf. After starting her WNBA coaching career as an assistant with the Chicago Sky from 2007-10, White became an assistant coach for Indiana from 2011-14 under Dunn.
Then, Krauskopf, who was the Fever’s president from 2000-18, gave White her first WNBA head coaching gig with the Fever in 2015 after Dunn retired from coaching. White led Indiana to the WNBA Finals in her first season and to another postseason appearance in 2016.
White left to become Vanderbilt’s head coach ahead of the 2016-17 women’s college basketball season.
White then returned to the WNBA head coaching ranks in the 2023 season with the Connecticut Sun. White steered the Sun to 27-13 and 28-12 regular season marks each of the past two seasons. Connecticut earned the No. 3 seed and advanced to the WNBA Semifinals each of the past two seasons.
With each of the past two WNBA Rookie of the Year honorees on Indiana’s roster in Caitlin Clark and in Aliyah Boston, the opportunity to lead those two and the appeal to return to a place that White is familiar with could be too appealing to pass up.
In addition to her coaching stint with the Fever, White also played four WNBA seasons with the Fever. White’s ties to the state of Indiana run deep.
White is from West Lebanon and was Miss Basketball out of Seeger High School. White was also a star on the Purdue team that won the NCAA championship in 1999, winning Big Ten Player of the Year and the Wade Trophy that season. White has one year left on her current contract with the Connecticut Sun.
Clark finished her rookie WNBA season averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 41.7% from the field, 34.4% from 3-point distance and 90.6% from the free throw line.
Re-signing free agent All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell will be the Fever’s largest roster objective this offseason.
The Fever announced the decision on Sunday morning that the franchise was firing fire former head coach Christie Sides after a 33-47 mark over two seasons.
Sides directed Indiana to a 20-20 record, the No. 6 seed and a first-round WNBA playoffs appearance this past season. It was the Fever’s first trip back to the WNBA playoffs since White guided them there in 2016.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions.
Follow Josh on X: @JoshOnREF
