Ever since the New York Liberty won its first-ever WNBA championship to put a lid on the 2024 season, coaching moves have been all the rage throughout the WNBA.
At one point in time, roughly half the league was sans a coach – and a few teams were also without a general manager.
As it turned out, one of those teams would be the Indiana Fever. Indiana, in its first season of the Caitlin Clark era, the team concluded said campaign with a mark of 20-20 in addition to playing its best ball in the second half of the season. The Fever qualified for the playoffs only to be swept out of the first round by the Connecticut Sun.
The first season of the Clark era would prove to be the final campaign of the Christie Sides coaching era in Indiana. But who the Fever tapped to replace Sides is what particularly drew plenty of eyebrows.
Stephanie White, the former coach of the Sun, will be at the helm of the Fever beginning with the 2025 season.
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.
–Stephanie White, Indiana Fever head coach (press release)
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.
–Stephanie White, Indiana Fever head coach (press release)
White has plenty of history as coach of the Fever. She was an assistant in Indiana from 2011 to 2014 then ascended to the head coaching spot for 2015 and 2016 prior to a multi-year stint in the college ranks at Vanderbilt.
She also was part of the Fever’s roster from 2000 to 2004. So much of her history with the WNBA is especially tied to this franchise.
White deciding to return to Indiana and leave Connecticut could be a sign of the direction of the two franchises. White understands that the Fever are on the rise after the season that was put together in 2023 where Indiana returned to the playoffs. Especially considering how the Fever clearly played better basketball with more chemistry down the stretch, there is certainly reason to believe that in a 2025 season we would see Indiana once again display why they rose up the ranks of many power rankings toward the close of the season.
As of today, one could see Indiana probably sixth on many power rankings behind the Seattle Storm, Las Vegas Aces, Connecticut Sun, Minnesota Lynx and the defending champion Liberty. After qualifying for the postseason in 2024, the expectation for the Fever should be to win a first-round series and advance to the semifinals. And it is still up in the air as to who will comprise the roster of the expansion Golden State Valkyries – we will know more about that around the expansion draft. We could still be two or three years shy of an Indiana appearance in the Finals.
As for the Sun – what is their future? Connecticut has had a reputation of being close to climbing the ladder to grab the brass ring but always being a fingertip shy. Jen Rizzotti and Darius Taylor will have their work cut out for them as far as the realm of free agency is concerned.
Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner, Bri Jones and DiJonai Carrington will all be free agents. In addition, Carrington is coming off the final season of her three-year rookie contract. Thomas is on the back side of the prime of her career. Bonner may be 36, but she once again proved this past season she can still play as if she was 26 (which Carrington actually is).
And with facilities being so much of the rage in WNBA circles nowadays, it puts pressure on teams like the Sun to invest the same way the Liberty, Lynx, Aces, Storm and Mercury have. That video of the Sun having to share a recreation center for practice prior to a playoff game went viral and did not exactly paint Connecticut in a good light.
White also is a former Coach of the Year. When the Sun initially made the hire of White, it was a puzzling one given her tenure with the Commodores. But she established herself firmly in Connecticut as a coach that deserves respect in WNBA circles.
The Fever’s only championship occurred in 2012 with Tamika Catchings as the centerpiece of the franchise. With a rising roster and a coach with a deep connection to the franchise, the Fever are more than poised to raise a second championship banner in the next few years to the rafers of Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
