Caitlin Clark, Fever have new coach in Stephanie White

The Indiana Fever hired Stephanie White on Friday as coach of Caitlin Clark & Co., a move that had been speculated for weeks.

White, 47, has spent the past two seasons as head coach of the Connecticut Sun. She was named the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year and an All-Star Game coach in 2023. She led the Sun to back-to-back semifinals appearances, compiling a 55-25 regular-season record and a 7-7 postseason record.

"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 such an important time throughout women's athletics," White said in a release. "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."

White was a Fever assistant in 2012 when Indiana won its only WNBA champoinship.

Fever president of basketball operations Kelly Krauskopf described White as "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.”

With the 2025 Fever, White will inherit one of the most exciting athletes in all of sports in 2024 Rookie of the Year Clark. Clark, along with 2023 rookie of the year Aliyah Boston, is a dynamic scorer and passer who has helped lift the WNBA to an unprecedented level of popularity. The Fever return a strong core with Clark and Boston, and re-signing Kelsey Mitchell — who is now an unrestricted free agent — will be a top priority this offseason.

White replaces Christie Sides, who was fired Oct. 27.

On Oct. 28, the Sun announced they had “parted ways” with White, and it appeared to be an amicable separation. The Fever had reportedly been talking with White about taking over in Indianapolis, and she had also been in discussions about continuing her tenure in Connecticut.

On Oct. 29, White told ESPN.com it was “not an easy decision to leave Connecticut, but I think the best one for my family and my career. It’s meant a lot to me – I'm so grateful to Jen (Rizzotti, Connecticut Sun president) and the organization. It's a top-notch organization. For me to be able to return to coaching – which I didn't know if it would be possible – with such a great team and coaching staff, it's meant a lot to me … at the end of the day, it's tough for me being away from my family. So from a professional standpoint and a personal standpoint, I feel like it's the best decision."

Indiana is a familiar home for White. An Indiana native and 1999 Purdue graduate, White previously coached the Fever in 2015 and 2016. The Fever went 37-31 over that stretch, falling in the 2015 WNBA Finals to the Minnesota Lynx and losing in the first round of the 2016 playoffs. (White also played for them from 2000-04.)

The opportunity to return to Indiana became official when the Fever announced they had fired Sides after two seasons and a 33-47 record. After a 1-8 start, Sides led the Fever back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Indiana was swept by the Sun in the first round.

White also works as a college basketball analyst for ESPN and called some of Clark's games when she played at Iowa.

Before the Fever played Connecticut in the May 24 season opener, Clark was asked what she thought of the then-Sun coach.

"She's obviously called a lot of my games all throughout college, and I think she has a really great basketball mind," Clark said then. "I think she's done a great job calling college games, it's been great to see her on NBA games. I think what she's done is just, she obviously has been a trailblazer. I think she's somebody who's been supportive of my game."

Contributing: Indianapolis Star

Follow Lindsay Schnell on social media @Lindsay_Schnell

This story has been updated with new information.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caitlin Clark, Fever get new coach in Stephanie White