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Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark was ecstatic about the hiring of Stephanie White as her next WNBA coach following the firing of Christie Sides.
“Fevv showwwwwww,” Clark commented on the Fever’s Instagram post announcing the coaching hire.
White returns to Indiana after coaching stints at Vanderbilt and Connecticut Sun. Her head coaching career started with the Fever when she took over in 2015 following Lin Dunn’s retirement. She served as an assistant coach for the Fever for four seasons before getting promoted to be the team’s head coach.
In her first season at the helm, she guided the Fever to the 2015 WNBA Finals but lost to Minnesota. The following season, the Fever bowed out in the first round.
White is inheriting a Fever team that ended a seven-year playoff drought.
Interestingly, it was White who coached the last Fever team that made the WNBA playoffs before Clark’s arrival ended the drought this past season. And it was also White who put an end to Clark and Fever’s Cinderella run with the Sun sweeping them in two games.
Despite White leading the Sun to the semifinals, it was not enough to keep her job.
The Fever quickly made their move when the Sun fired White Monday, one day after they sacked Sides.
Stephanie White Can Help Caitlin Clark Grow Her Game: ESPN Writer
A former Big Ten star like Clark, White is viewed as the perfect coach to help Clark grow her game following her historic WNBA rookie season.
ESPN’s WNBA and women’s college basketball writer Michael Voepel views White as a “good fit” with the Fever following their breakthrough last season. He believes White is the right coach to help Clark take her game to the next level.
“White knows what it’s like to be a player in the spotlight who wants her teammates to feel just as valued,” ESPN’s WNBA and women’s college basketball writer Michael Voepel wrote after the Fever made the coaching hire. “That was her role at Purdue, and she has watched Clark navigate the same circumstances at Iowa and with the Fever. Clark is a student of basketball who learns from everyone she can. Clark knows White’s history and the common ground they have, even if 25 years separate the former Big Ten stars.
Voepel added White will help Clark trim down her turnovers while staying aggressive as a playmaker for the Fever.
Stephanie White’s ‘Fascinating’ Challenge
ESPN’s WNBA reporter Alexa Philippou, however, sees the great challenge that lies ahead for White and the Fever.
She noted that White is returning to Indiana with a young team still lacking experience, unlike during her first coaching stint when she had a championship-ready team.
“Taking over a younger Indiana team powered by a pair of recent No. 1 picks and a lot of other green talent presents a different dynamic,” Philippou wrote. “It’ll be fascinating to see how Indiana’s building process unfolds in the years to come, with Clark and Boston on the precipice of superstardom and on a franchise so hungry for a deep playoff run after a lengthy drought.”
Clark and Aliyah Boston were the WNBA’s back-to-back No. 1 overall picks. The Fever also has former No. 2 overall pick NaLyssa Smith, who fell out of Christie Sides’ favor last season.
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