INDIANAPOLIS — New Indiana fever head coach Stephanie White held its (re)introduction press conference Monday afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
White, who succeeds Christie sides as coach of the Fever, will return to Indiana after a two-year stint as coach of the Connecticut Sun.
White knows Indiana well and Fever: team president Kelly Krauskopf drafted White in Indiana’s 2000 expansion draft, White was an assistant coach under Lin Dunn when Indiana won its championship in 2012, and Krauskopf gave White his first head coaching job with the Fever in 2015.
More: Stephanie White knew Caitlin Clark was going to thrive. Now, she will lead Clark’s next steps.
White was the head coach of the Fever from 2015-16 before becoming the head coach at Vanderbilt.
Now she’s back in Indianapolis.
“It’s just a really, really special place, a special franchise,” White said. “It’s been part of my DNA since day one, and it will always continue to be part of my DNA. … Every time I came home, (Fever broadcaster Pat Boylan) would ask me, every time I came back: “What does it feel like when you come back to this building? And every time I said, “It’s like home, it’s like home.” » And that’s because it is. I’m incredibly honored, so humbled, so appreciative, grateful and excited to lead this franchise and take it to another level. »
Here are some other highlights from White’s press conference:
How family influenced Stephanie White’s decision to return to Indiana
White spent the last two years in Uncasville, Connecticut, a place where there were no direct flights from his base in Nashville, and an hour’s drive after landing.
While her children attended school in Nashville, White barely saw them from the time they returned to school until the end of the WNBA season. Coaching in Indiana allows White to make the four-hour drive to see her children more often and puts her closer to her hometown of West Lebanon, Indiana.
“I’m at the point in my career where, you know, making a decision for one reason or another isn’t really enough anymore,” White said. “It has to be about professional opportunities. It has to be about personal opportunities. And for me, you know, being near my family – and some of them are here today, including my nephew , who I’ve only seen a few times so it would be great to see his cute little face more often – and so my kids can be with my family even more, that’s important.
“And you know, for those of us who have kids, you know, you don’t get those years back, right? You don’t get that time back. And my family sacrificed a lot of time with my children, and for them to now be able to have them more often, for me to be closer to home, that was really important, there’s always a point in life where it feels like everything needs to be grounded, everything has to be centered, so that you can be where your feet are.
Stephanie White on Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston
White will be part of a team that has the last two No. 1 picks and rookies of the year in Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark. As a center and point guard, Boston and Clark naturally complement each other.
“They’re both incredibly competitive players,” White said. “And, you know, there’s a fire and a mentality that you can’t teach when it comes to competitive spirit and when it comes to being a great teammate, and when it comes to It’s about elevating those around you. Seeing them both grow into not only the players they are, but the light they have, the way they lead, the way they make their teammates better, the way they improve. “raise each other up, how they deal with, you know, all the things that have come to them and all these things that happen to you are certainly deserved when you’re in that position.”
“You set it up, and you have the point guard in the middle, are you kidding me? Like you have the bookends that you want to build around them,” White added. “Those two are the best. And I think there are so many things they’re doing well right now, and you saw the difference between the beginning and the end of the season, and how well they got better with each other. how much they could anticipate what each other was going to do, how they facilitated each other. But there’s so much room for growth.
Stephanie White on the WNBA’s growing popularity
White had been a part of the WNBA almost since its inception, having been drafted into the league in 1999. She remembers when the league was just starting out and had poor facilities and support.
Today, arenas are selling out across the country, players are enjoying better accommodations both on the road and at home, and the league is exploding like it never has before.
“This is such an incredible moment globally for our game, for our players, for us who have been around for a long time,” White said. “And I accept that. I will always accept it. I don’t think any of us will ever take it for granted, because that’s what we envisioned, and now we have the opportunity to live it.
“You know, (Lin Dunn, Fever’s senior advisor), it was from the days when you drove a station wagon and did laundry, to now, I mean, talk about pioneers. And for me, for Kelly and for Amber (Cox), who I got to sit at these tables and have these conversations with Dunn and Mickie DeMoss… and Pat Summitt, and just hear where it all started, and now be able to live where it’s located and to be able to transport it to where it’s going, it’s such an incredible opportunity. It’s such an incredible moment.”
This article was originally published on the Indianapolis Star: What Stephanie White said about the work of Indiana Fever, Caitlin Clark and her family
