Indiana Fever’s Stephanie White on Caitlin Clark

On November 2, 2024By Littum

INDIANAPOLIS — New Indiana fever coach Stephanie White always knew what Caitlin Clark should stay.

White, who was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun from 2023-24, played two of the first four games of the season against the Fever. She, as well as most of the other coaches and players in the league, knew of Clark’s star power, the excitement and new fans she brought to the league.

She also had a front-row seat for Clark’s early games — including a league-record 10 turnovers in her WNBA debut against the Sun.

Fever fans, new and old, had a lot to say about the early matches on social media. But as an experienced coach at the college and WNBA levels, White knew it was a process.

“I look at all these things that people are talking about with Caitlin Clark, and it’s like, ‘Guys, relax,”’ White said near the beginning of the season. “She’s going to be fine. It’s two games to go, are you kidding me? She is a student of the game. She got better every year. You’re not just going to absorb all the new information that comes at you in two games in two weeks. It takes time. She wants that, I have no doubt.”

White knew she would be right. And 38 games later, when Clark had broken the rookie scoring and assists, league games and assists records in the league and finished fourth in the MVP voting, those early-season games were miles away.

Of course, there are still some things to work on. Clark said after the season that she’s just scratching the surface of what she can do in the WNBA, and with a full offseason ahead of her now, she has time to make those changes if she needs to.

“She’s a student of the game, she’s going to continue to get better,” White added. “And those are also points that coaches then address, ‘Hey, let’s continue to work on this,’ but it’s really hard to work on some of those things in the season. So this can be a thing without for the season: ‘Let’s continue to play to our strengths, let’s continue to get the ball to our players, and then when we get time in the offseason, we’ll work on the next step, the next level.'”

As it turns out, White will be the one to lead Clark through the next steps after a historic Rookie of the Year season.

White officially returned to the Fever franchise as its new head coach on Friday, tasked with leading Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell (assuming she re-signs) to a championship.

White and Clark already have a relationship, as the new Fever coach is a color analyst for NBA and Big Ten basketball games in the WNBA offseason. White called many of Clark’s plays while she was at Iowa, and the two have formed a connection through that.

“I think she has a really good basketball mind,” Clark said in May. “I think she’s done a great job calling college games, it’s been great watching her in NBA games. I think what she’s done is she’s obviously been a trailblazing, honestly. I think she’s been someone who has supported my game and she’s been fun to talk to at shooting rounds throughout my college career and has always been really supportive.”

The Fever already went through a lot of development in 2024, improving to a 20-20 season and No. 6 playoff seed under Christie Sides, who was fired Sunday. It was their first playoff berth since 2016, as well as their first .500 record in that span.

Clark and Mitchell developed into a dangerous backcourt duo, with Mitchell shooting 40.8% from 3-point range and Clark shooting 34.4%. Both broke the Fever’s single-season scoring record, and Clark finished just two points ahead of Mitchell to lead Indiana in scoring.

The Fever had three All-Stars, with Boston joining Clark and Mitchell in Phoenix in July.

“When you talk about the job that Kelsey and Caitlin have done from a perimeter standpoint, they’re a backcourt combination that’s really hard to match up against,” White said prior to the playoffs. “And then you have Aliyah Boston on the inside, definitely along with what NaLyssa (Smith) brings and Lexie Hull from an energy standpoint and knocking down shots, they play really confident basketball. They play really well together and they’re a tough match.”

The Fever’s top players seemed excited about White’s hiring, with Clark echoing the announcement on his Instagram story, commenting “Fevv showwwwwww.” Boston and Hull also put the announcement on their Instagram stories, with Boston adding “Let’s get it!”

Smith, open about her frustrations with her lack of use in the 2024 season after her minutes faltered, also put ‘@indianafever’ back in her Instagram and X-bios following Sides’ firing. Smith previously took that tag out of his bio after the season and replaced it with ‘@wnba’.

Smith also posted the Fever’s announcement of White as head coach on his Instagram story, adding the intro to the song ‘KYLIE!!!’ by Lucki, who says “Well, we play whatever time the championship is, B, that’s what time we play / When’s the championship time? That’s the time my team plays.”