Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White hopes to ’embrace this moment’ in WNBA

This kind of growth that the WNBA has experienced over the past year is something Stephanie White has been waiting for for 25 years.

She will be able to embrace that growth with the franchise in her hometown. White, from West Lebanon, Ind., was officially announced as head coach of the Indiana Fever on Friday. It comes after the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year parted ways with the Connecticut Sun after two seasons.

“First and foremost, it’s my home,” White told ESPN’s ‘NBA Today.’ “This is a franchise, the Indiana Fever, Indiana Pacers, that’s in my DNA. Grew up in Indiana, played in Indiana, played with the franchise, obviously part of the franchise when we won the WNBA championship.”

White has been a part of the WNBA in one form or another almost since its inception; she was drafted in 1999, two years after the league began in 1997. She has been a player, assistant coach, head coach at multiple franchises and won a WNBA championship as an assistant for the Fever.

In all her years, she has never seen anything like this moment in the competition. The WNBA experienced unprecedented growth in the 2024 season, catalyzed by Caitlin Clark and the rest of the rookie class. The Fever saw merchandise sales increase by over 1,000%, had 38 games on national television and sold out arenas cheering on Clark and Indiana.

White also already has a trusted relationship with the Fever top player, beyond being her new coach. White said she knew about Clark since she was in eighth grade; White was coaching at Vanderbilt at the time and Clark was at the top of many college coaches’ watch lists. Now it’s been almost a decade since White first heard of Clark, and she’s grown into the superstar many coaches predicted she would be.

“She is a student of the game,” White said. “She loves the game of basketball. She’s so great in the way she handles all the attention. She just wants to play, she just wants to win. I’m looking forward to coaching players like that, and this young franchise, this young team , and taking our next steps.”

Viewership across the board rose in 2024, with this season becoming the most-watched season on ESPN in 25 years – a 170% increase from 2023. The WNBA Finals were the most-watched in 25 years, with each of the five games had over 1 million viewers and 32 games throughout the season had over a million viewers.

White has seen this rise from both sides: In the WNBA offseason, she is an analyst for ESPN, covering the NBA and Big Ten women’s basketball games. She knew this moment would come, based on the excitement she saw at women’s college basketball games over the past few seasons.

“I think the best part for me is that I’ve been a part of the WNBA for 25 years, working on both sides of it, in the media and in the coaching room, and also being a player in this league.” “I mean, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for,” White told NBA Today in her first interview since being named coach of the Fever. “So I don’t know if you prepare for it as much as you just embrace it. Embrace where we are right now. Think about the momentum moving forward, where we wanted this league to be, what we’re still striving for . and embrace this moment, embrace this opportunity, continue to help this team, this franchise and better position ourselves for success.”

With her new role, White is now tasked with coaching Clark and 2023 Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston, as well as Kelsey Mitchell (if she re-signs), Lexie Hull and the rest of the program to a deep playoff run. This is a Fever team fresh out of a rebuild, with their 2024 2020 season being the first time they’ve made the playoffs since 2016.

There is a lot of young talent on this roster: three All-Stars, two Rookies of the Year and players with an innate desire to win. And White has the skills to leverage this into a contender.

“This young, exciting roster, you think of a generational player in Caitlin Clark and back-to-back Rookie of the Years with Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell had, I think, the best year of her career,” White said. “It’s just an exciting roster. What a great moment we have right now in women’s basketball, and to come back and be a part of that in my home state with my home franchise, it’s just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I’m so grateful .”