Stephanie White—reported favorite for Fever job—out as Sun coach

Stephanie White was head coach of the Indiana Fever from 2015-2016. (IBJ file photo)

If the Indiana Fever are interested in hiring Stephanie White as head coach, as media sources have reported, the WNBA team’s path is now much clearer.

One day after the Fever announced the firing of coach Christie Sides, the Connecticut Sun on Monday announced that they were parting ways with White, who has coached the team for the past two seasons. White, who had a year left on her Sun contract, is now able to freely sign with other organizations.

White, 47, coached Connecticut to a 55-25 regular season and a 7-7 postseason record, leading the team to two semifinal playoff appearances. White was selected as a 2023 WNBA All-Star Game head coach and won 2023 WNBA and AP Coach of the Year honors.

“We want to thank Stephanie for her time in Connecticut and her commitment to our organization over the past two seasons,” said Jen Rizzotti, Connecticut Sun president, in written remarks. “We wish her the best in her future endeavors.”

The Sun are the seventh WNBA team to make a head coaching change this year.

Media speculation after Sunday’s announcement landed solidly on White as a likely candidate to replace Sides. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that White has been in talks with the Fever and the Chicago Sky about coaching, but Indiana would be a more likely spot based on White’s deep ties to the organization and the state.

“Multiple sources expect White to be the Fever’s next coach,” Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote Sunday.

A Fever spokesperson on Monday afternoon said there was “nothing new” to immediately report about the coaching situation.

As a player, White was 1995 Indiana Miss Basketball at Seeger High School in West Lebanon and led Purdue University to the 1999 NCAA championship under Coach Linn Dunn. She played five WNBA seasons, including four with the Fever.

As a coach, she was an assistant at Ball State University and spent three seasons (2011-14) under Dunn with the Fever, winning the WNBA title in 2012. She spent two years as head coach of the Fever, making the WNBA Finals in 2015 and qualifying for the playoffs in 2016 before leaving to coach Vanderbilt University from 2016-21.

The Sun went 28-12 last season and lost to the Minnesota Lynx in the deciding fifth game of the WNBA playoff semifinals.

As coach of the Fever, White worked under Kelly Krauskopf, who led the Indiana Fever from 2000 to 2018 and built the team into one of the league’s most successful franchises, with 13 postseason appearances and three WNBA finals berths in seven years—including a championship in 2012.

Krauskopf returned as president of basketball and business operations for the Fever at the end of the season after spending the last six years as assistant general manager for the Indiana Pacers.

White also has worked in television as a college basketball analyst for ESPN and the Big Ten Network.