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It’s official. Stephanie White is returning to the Indiana Fever to coach Caitlin Clark.
Stephanie White had been the head coach of the Connecticut Sun for the past two seasons. She lead the Sun to a 55-25 (.688) record during her two seasons there, losing in the WNBA Semifinals each year. In 2023, she was named the WNBA Coach of the Year.
White’s previous head coaching experience came with the Indiana Fever in 2015 and 2016 when the team went 37-31 under her watch. The Fever made it to the WNBA Finals in 2015, losing to the Minnesota Lynx. In 2016, the Fever lost to the lower-seeded Phoenix Mercury.
She also served as an assistant coach with the Fever from 2011 to 2014. Indiana won its one and only WNBA Championship in 2012.
White, a West Lebanon, Indiana native, graduate of Purdue University, and member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, inherits a Indiana Fever team led by Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston, that went 20–20 last season and made the playoffs for the first time since White’s last season as head coach of the Fever.
“As we enter this new era of Fever basketball, I am thrilled to welcome Stephanie back to the franchise,” said Fever President of Basketball Operations Kelly Krauskopf. “Stephanie is a part of the fabric of this franchise, both as a former player and as a member of our championship coaching staff, so I’m quite familiar with her elite basketball IQ and leadership style. I am confident there is no one who better understands our culture or is more equipped to lead our group of players to the next level.”
Stephanie White is homegrown.
🏠 Indiana Miss Basketball at Seeger High School in West Lebanon, IN
🚂 Brought @PurdueWBB their first-ever National Championship
🏆 Assistant Coach for our first @WNBA championshipThere is no one better to lead us into our next era of Fever… pic.twitter.com/ijK5ymdcYo
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) November 1, 2024
Indiana Fever fans, who expressed a lot of frustration with former coach Christie Sides, could not be more happy about the move to hire Stephanie White.
“IT’S RING TIME. LFGG,” read one popular comment.
“Holy cow!!!! What a move Indiana Fever. What a move!!” shouted another Fever fan.
“We getting a ring with her,” another fan predicted. “Watch how she elevates AB and CC’s game. I can’t wait to catch a game next szn.”
“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 during such an important time throughout women’s athletics,” said White. “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 also played five seasons in the WNBA, four of which with the Indiana Fever (and coincidentally wore #22).
Ironically, White won a national championship with Purdue in 1999, beating Louisiana Tech in the Final Four. One of her opponents in the Louisiana Tech game? Recently fired Fever head coach Christie Sides.