White out as Sun head coach after two seasons

Stephanie White is out as head coach of the Connecticut Sun, the team announced Monday.

In her two seasons in Connecticut, White went 55-25 (including 28-12 this season) and led the Sun to two semifinal appearances. She won WNBA Coach of the Year in 2023.

“We parted on good terms because some of [White’s] decision-making process was not just about basketball,” Connecticut Sun president Jen Rizzotti told ESPN, adding she assumes White will speak on her decision at a later time.

The WNBA now has seven head-coaching vacancies. Prior to the Sun’s announcement, the Indiana Fever were the latest to move on from their head coach, Christie Sides.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier Monday that the Fever were targeting White to replace Sides as coach. White previously coached the Fever in 2015 and 2016.

White did not confirm what may be next for her, but did say it was a “professional and personal decision” to leave the Sun and thanked Connecticut for what the organization did for her.

“It’s not an easy decision to leave Connecticut, but I think the best one for my family and my career,” White told ESPN. “It’s meant a lot to me — I’m so grateful to Jen and the organization. It’s a top-notch organization. For me to be able to return to coaching — which I didn’t know if it would be possible — with such a great team and coaching staff, it’s meant a lot to me.

“So this has not been easy. But certainly, at the end of the day, it’s tough for me being away from my family. So from a professional standpoint and a personal standpoint, I feel like it’s the best decision.”

The Sun will look to hire White’s replacement ideally over the next few weeks, Rizzotti said.

“I think No. 1 is just some stability over an uncertain time in the WNBA,” Rizzotti told ESPN about what the franchise is looking for. “I think that there’s a likelihood of a lot of turnover in rosters throughout the league, and I want to look for a leader that’s ready to lead us into the future, to be able to maintain a level of competitiveness, and if we have to retool our roster a little bit, to be able to grow with that team and grow as an organization.”

The Sun — who have appeared in the semifinals each of the last six seasons — currently have their entire roster outside of Marina Mabrey, Tyasha Harris and Olivia Nelson-Ododa set to hit free agency heading into 2025. That includes stars All-Stars Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones.

“I think we’re always going to have the goal of winning a championship, but it might just have to be a different path,” Rizzotti said. “And I’d like to give our next coach the time to be able to figure out what that is.”

Rizzotti said the organization will be open-minded about the sorts of candidates they consider, but that “having coaches [in-market year-around] to make sure there’s continuity around player contact and workouts and facetime, being able to build up what we’re doing in the community” is a priority.

“The hard thing is there’s been a perception that there’s not a lot of job security in the WNBA. I don’t think that’s the case in Connecticut,” Rizzotti said. “I’d like to think that this is a place where you can have some time to build the roster and the program the right way.”

ESPN’s Michael Voepel contributed to this report.