Indiana Fever’s Stephanie White on Caitlin Clark

INDIANAPOLIS – New Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White always knew what Caitlin Clark would become.

White, who was head coach of the Connecticut Sun from 2023-2024, played two of the first four games of the season against the Fever. She, like most other coaches and players in the league, was aware of Clark’s star power, the excitement and the new fans she brought to the league.

She also had a front-row seat to Clark’s early struggles, including a record 10 turnovers in her WNBA debut against the Sun.

Fever fans new and old had a lot to say on social media about that early battle. But as a veteran coach at the college and WNBA level, White knew it was a process.

“I look at all this stuff that people are talking about with Caitlin Clark, and it’s like, ‘Guys, chill out,’” White said at the start of the season. “She’ll be fine. There are two matches going on, are you kidding? She is a student of the game. Every year she got better. You’re not just going to absorb all the new information that comes your way in two games, in two weeks. It takes time. She will certainly do that, I have no doubt about that.”

White knew she would be right. And 38 games later, when Clark had broken the record for rookie scores and assists, the record for league games and season assists and finished fourth in the MVP voting, the early season problems were a mile away.

Of course, there are still some things we need to work on. Clark said she’s just scratching the surface of what she can do in the WNBA after the season, and with a full offseason ahead of her, she has time to make those changes if necessary.

“She’s a student of the game, she’s going to keep getting better,” White added. “And these are also points that coaches then go into, ‘Hey, let’s keep working on this,’ but it’s really hard to work on some of those things during the season. So this could be an offseason thing: ‘Let’s continue to play to our strengths, let’s continue to get the ball to our players, and then when we get time in the offseason, we’ll work on that next step, that next level. .’”

As it turns out, White will be the one to guide Clark through the next steps after a historic Rookie of the Year season.

White officially returned to the Fever franchise on Friday as the new head coach, tasked with leading Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell (assuming she re-signs) to a championship.

White and Clark already have a relationship, as the new Fever coach is a color analyst for NBA and Big Ten basketball games during the WNBA offseason. White called many of Clark’s games while she was at Iowa, and the two have formed a bond as a result.

“I think she has a really good basketball mind,” Clark said in May. “I think she’s done a great job calling college games, it’s been great to see her at NBA games. I think what she’s done is just, she’s obviously been a pioneer, honestly. I think that she’s someone who has supported my game, and it’s been fun talking to her at shootarounds throughout my college career and it’s always been a big support for me.”

The Fever have already made significant progress in 2024, improving to a 20-20 season and a No. 6 seed in the playoffs under Christie Sides, who was fired on Sunday. It was their first playoff berth since 2016, as well as their first .500 record during that span.

Clark and Mitchell developed into a dangerous defensive duo, with Mitchell shooting 40.8% from three-point range and Clark 34.4%. Both broke the Fever’s single-season scoring record, and Clark finished just two points ahead of Mitchell and led Indiana in scoring.

The Fever had three All-Stars, with Boston joining Clark and Mitchell in Phoenix in July.

“When you talk about the work that Kelsey and Caitlin have done from a perimeter perspective, they are a backcourt combination that is very difficult to match,” White said ahead of the playoffs. “And then you have Aliyah Boston on the interior, especially along with what NaLyssa (Smith) brings, and Lexie Hull from an energy standpoint and knocking down shots, they play very confident basketball. They play very well together and it is a difficult match.”

The Fever’s top players seemed excited about White’s recruitment, with Clark reposting the announcement on her Instagram Story and responding with “Fevv showwwwwww.” Boston and Hull also posted the announcement on their Instagram stories, with Boston adding: “Let’s get it!”

Smith, who has been open about her frustrations over her lack of usage in the 2024 season after her minutes faltered, also posted “@indianafever” back to her Instagram and X-bios following Sides’ firing. Smith previously removed that tag from her bios after the season and replaced it with “@wnba.”

Smith also posted the Fever’s announcement of White as head coach on her Instagram Story, adding the intro to the song “KYLIE!!!” from Lucki saying: “Well, we play what time the championship is, B, that’s what time we play / When is the championship? That’s when my team plays.”