Ahead of the 2025 season, several WNBA teams are without head coaches, including Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky and Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever. According to reports, Stephanie White, who recently stepped down as Connecticut Sun head coach, is in talks with both teams, with the Fever reportedly having the edge.
In that sense, White has been open about her opinions on both rookies. When it comes to Reese, the 2023 WNBA head coach of the year said that she is “an elite rebounder” after the Sun narrowly beat the Sky 82-80 in August.
“Her activity level is just so good. Even if she’s not scoring the basketball she’s making plays. She’s getting opportunities for her team-mates, she’s getting offensive rebounds,” sge said. “She’s an elite rebounder. That’s a skillset that she came into this league with. Her offensive game is continuing to grow… But her activity level is elite, and it makes her really tough to defend.”
Meanwhile, regarding Clark, White was one of her first defenders in the league, after Fever started with a negative record last year (including losing to White’s Sun in their opener). After only two games, White said that people needed to “chill out” and let the guard adjust to the league.
Angel Reese was called an “elite rebounder” by Stephanie White (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
“She’s a student of the game, she got better every year. You’re not gonna just absorb all of the new information that’s coming at you in two games, in two weeks. It takes time. And she will. I have no doubt about it,” she said at the time.
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Caitlin Clark’s feelings on Stephanie White
On the other hand, Clark has also praised White. Ahead of the Sun-Fever opener in May, the Indiana rookie called the head coach a “a great basketball mind,” while also recognizing that she has been “supportive” to her.
“She’s obviously called a lot of my games all throughout college, and I think she has a really great basketball mind,” Clark told the press. “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, honestly. 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 has always been really supportive,” she explained.
Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever looks as she plays the Connecticut Sun (Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
“Yeah, so I think the biggest thing is it’s fun going up against her here now for my first time after her calling a lot of my games. Now I get to play against her, so that’s going to be a lot of fun for the both of us,” she added.
Fever has the edge on White according to reports
Before Sun’s official announcement, Annie Costabile reported for the Chicago Sun-Time that “while nothing has been made official, multiple sources expect White, who remains under contract with the Sun, to be the next head coach of the Fever.”
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White has a long standing connection to Indiana. She played for the Fever for five seasons (2000-04) and later returned as an assistant coach from 2011-14, helping the team secure the 2012 championship. White then led the Fever as head coach from 2015-16, finishing with a 37-31 record.
