Imago
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) smiles in an interview after becoming the first rookie to achieve a triple-double Saturday, July 6, 2024, during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Fever defeated the Liberty, 83-78.
Imago
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) smiles in an interview after becoming the first rookie to achieve a triple-double Saturday, July 6, 2024, during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Fever defeated the Liberty, 83-78.
After serving as head coach of the Connecticut Sun for the past two seasons, Stephanie White has made a major move. She’ll now be coaching the Indiana Fever’s impressive roster, which features the 2024 “Rookie of the Year.” As the news broke, there was some curiosity about the kind of bond White and Clark would develop. Handling a talent like the 22-year-old Iowa native, who’s been shattering historic records game after game, is no easy task.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“I’ve been fortunate to call a number of her games throughout her career, but there’s nothing like this season,” White admitted on the ‘Fieldhouse Files’ podcast aired in April this year. White knows the pros and cons of working with incredible talent. Her most impactful memory of Clark, which she’ll “never forget,” comes from a game at Maryland.
During that time, White was staying in the same hotel as Clark. She recalled going down three hours before the game, only to find the hotel packed with “hundreds of people.” “It was roped off like it would be for an NBA or NFL team. There were security guards everywhere,” White described.
Top Stories
stephanie white said someone told her that caitlin clark is the “taylor swift of basketball”, and she once stayed in the same hotel as the hawkeyes in maryland and saw the caitlin clark effect first-hand during caitlin’s senior season. pic.twitter.com/G8TSpDI4g2
— cc akgae (@clrkszn) November 1, 2024
Impressive, right? By that time, Clark was already a sensation averaging 31.6 points per game and having various records etched under her name. In fact, when she left for the WNBA, she was already a leading scorer for the NCAA and off the court, had helped Iowa’s economy, contributing between $14.4 and $52.3 million to GDP and generating about $82.5 million in consumer spending.
It may just be the reason why White heard someone refer to Clark as “the Taylor Swift of women’s basketball.” Well, the pop singer herself brought an estimated $200 million economic boost to New Orleans this past weekend. As a fan herself, Clark would be thrilled. But on a more serious note, White addresses the impact this speaks about. “It’s the craziness of this team and Caitlin Clark’s ability right now to captivate a national audience,” White added.
This shows that White understands the complexity of taking over the position previously held by Christie Sides. But the question remains:
Will she be able to guide the Fever’s rising star?
The answer seems to be yes. While White was announced as the Fever’s head coach on Friday, her ties with the team date back to 2011-2014, when she served as an assistant coach. “First and foremost, it’s a home for me,” she said. During her four seasons with the Fever, the roster won its first WNBA championship in 2012.
Even as head coach of the Connecticut Sun, White has been part of a lot of winning. Under her leadership, the Sun made it to the WNBA semifinals both seasons. All this has only added to the expectations that she’ll be the perfect fit to fulfill Clark’s dream of clinching a WNBA championship title.
In fact, White is already prepared for Clark. “She’s a student of the game, she loves basketball, and she has been so great with how she handles all of the attention… She just wants to play, she just wants to win. I’m looking forward to coaching players like that, this young franchise, this young team,” she said.
And she’s right—the Fever have made great strides in 2024. With their young roster, the team improved to a 20-20 season, securing the No. 6 seed in the playoffs under Christie Sides. Though it was their first playoff appearance in eight years, it wasn’t enough to get them to the second round.
However, things seem to be looking up with White’s arrival. Even Clark believes White is “a really great basketball mind… I think she’s somebody who’s been supportive of my game, and it’s been fun to talk to her at shootarounds throughout my college career, and she has always been really supportive,” Clark shared in May. Overall, everything suggests White is going to excel in her new role. What do you think?
Written by
Edited by
Shivatmika Manvi