Fever looking to build onto success with New Head Coach

Source: David Berding / Getty

[Indianapolis, IN]- It has been two weeks since the Indiana Fever announced former Head Coach Christie Sides was fired.

This past week, a familiar face to the franchise returned to lead the team in 2025, Stephanie White.

White, a native Hoosier from West Lebanon, served as Indiana’s Head Coach from 2015-2016 before leaving for Vanderbilt. That move was what she thought would be the end of her time in Indiana.

“I certainly had hoped at some point my career would bring me back to Indiana,” White said Tuesday on Query and Company, “but never really thought that it would. It’s incredible the way the stars have aligned and that this opportunity came about.”

Prior to her return to the Fever, White served as the Head Coach of the Connecticut Sun from 2023-2024. Under White, Connecticut reached the WNBA Semi-Finals after eliminating the Fever in the first round. Indiana was 1-5 last year against the Sun, including an 0-2 start in the first part of the season.

Returning to the Fever had many factors, including a roster that features Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell.

“Apart of it is being able to be home,” White said, “Part of it is being able to be closer to family, but none of that makes sense if it’s not the right job from a basketball standpoint. All of that matters. This is a young, exciting roster. Kelly Krauskopf returning to the Fever was also a huge bonus for me. I know how she works; I know how she operates. She’s the original architect of this franchise.”

During her conversation, White addressed there is an advantage to coaching against the team she now calls home.

“When you’re thinking about how you can have the edge against players like that, it gives you a different perspective,” White said, “It gives me the ability transparently to communicate with them like look, this is how we wanted to attack you, this is what we wanted to put you through to make your life difficult.”

Indiana finished last season at .500, going 20-20. They reached the playoffs for the first time since 2015.