Photos by Clay Maxfield
FOR THE Indiana Fever, the 2024 season was one of unprecedented heights that found them setting the foundation for a future that is brighter than they’ve seen in a decade.
With three WNBA All-Stars surrounded by a young and growing core, Indiana reached the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons and now has ushered in Stephanie White as head coach for the 2025 season. White, deemed basketball royalty throughout the state, spoke during her introductory press conference about what it means to be home and lead the young, upstart Fever.
“This is coming home for me,” White said. “It has been such an experience with this franchise for nearly 25 years from day one and the opportunity to come home and lead this young, exciting, and talented team. … This is just a special place, a special franchise, and has always been a part of my DNA. I’m so incredibly honored and grateful to lead this franchise and taking it to another level.”
Photos by Clay Maxfield
In White, Indiana gets not just a coach of high caliber but a staple throughout Indiana. She sat at No. 5 in career scoring in high school girls basketball before being named National Player of the Year while leading Purdue University to the conference’s only NCAA Championship in 1999.
From there, she was a staple in the Indiana Fever’s history, selected in the team’s expansion draft for their inaugural season in 2000 before playing a role as an assistant coach on their 2012 championship roster, when Indiana defeated the Minnesota Lynx 3-1 in the WNBA Finals.
In 2015, White took over for Lin Dunn as Indiana’s head coach for two seasons before moving on to Vanderbilt University, but the chance to come back to her roots made her most recent decision an easy one.
“One of the things about this position is there’s just so much familiarity with this franchise. It just feels like the stars perfectly aligned, and while at times, there’s anxiety through a new transition, there just hasn’t been any for me. … When things are meant to be, it feels great,” she said.
White has compiled major wins throughout four seasons as a head coach in the WNBA while going 92-56 overall. She reached the finals in her first season with Indiana, followed by semifinals appearances in the last two years with the Connecticut Sun.
The acquisition of White is just one of many major front-office moves Indiana has made this offseason following Kelly Krauskopf’s return as the president of basketball and business operations in late September and the introduction of Amber Cox, who assumed the position of general manager in October.
Lin Dunn, the former GM, was named senior advisor to Fever basketball after completing what she deemed a three-year plan to get Indiana back into the playoffs. Now with the blueprint to success laid and a season of history led by the futures of their franchise, a homegrown head coach may be the missing piece to putting Indiana into title contention.
