The WNBA coaching carousel is about to begin moving in earnest after the Connecticut Sun announced Monday they are parting ways with coach Stephanie White.
Seven of the league’s 13 teams are searching for a head coach — including the Chicago Sky, who fired Teresa Weatherspoon at the conclusion of a 13-27 debut season less than a year after hiring her. The Sky and Sun are joined by the Indiana Fever, Dallas Wings, Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics and Atlanta Dream in seeking a new coach for 2025.
Why all of this commotion? The WNBA is in a period of extreme flux. Teams need more than ever from their coaching staffs — increased player development, heightened in-game strategy and a higher all-around basketball IQ.
For this reason, the first inclination for these hires shouldn’t be to elevate former players with limited coaching experience. And while it’s equally tempting to immediately swing for one of the former head coaches who recently landed on the carousel — for instance, the Wings’ Latricia Trammel or the Fever’s Christie Sides — many of these coaches are doomed to repeat the same weaknesses with a new team.
The Sky’s selection process will be different this time. Last year Weatherspoon was selected by a coaching search committee assembled by the front office and helmed by co-owner and acting chair Nadia Rawlinson. The Sky did not hire general manager Jeff Pagliocca until three weeks after hiring Weatherspoon.
This year Pagliocca will lead the hiring process, bringing a different perspective rooted in basketball strategy.
Pagliocca has clear priorities for this hire. The Sky want a high-discipline coach who will create a heavily structured system that sets up young players such as Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese to reach their full potential.
That leaves two main avenues: snag one of the two top former head coaches — White or the Sparks’ Curt Miller — or hire a lead assistant from another WNBA team who is ready for the next step. Either option would give the Sky more strategic experience while attracting free agents, one of the main concerns that led to Weatherspoon’s firing.
Another option: focus on NBA benches, where a wide swath of highly qualified coaches could be lured into WNBA head coaching positions with rapidly growing salaries. The Phoenix Mercury hired former Orlando Magic assistant Nate Tibbetts last year for a league-record $1.2 million annual salary.
Here are five options for the Sky.
1. Stephanie White
White became the best candidate on the market the moment she split with the Sun on Monday. The 2023 Coach of the Year, White thoroughly established herself during the last two seasons helming the Sun. She has eight years of experience as a WNBA assistant coach in addition to four as a head coach, plus a five-year stint as the head coach at Vanderbilt.
The likelist scenario has White returning to the Fever. She grew up in West Lebanon, Ind., played in college at Purdue, played her last five WNBA seasons for the Fever and made her head coaching debut with the team from 2015-16 after serving as an assistant for four seasons (during which the Fever won a WNBA title).
And with back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners on their roster in Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark, the Fever are at the turning point of a rebuild that offers the most attractive option for any top coaching candidate.
The Sky have a solid pitch of their own to make — an era of new investment, two promising young stars with another wave of draft picks on the way — but they’ll likely need to pivot to other options by the end of this week.
2. Curt Miller
Another recently fired coach should be on the Sky’s radar. Miller, fired by the Sparks after two seasons in LA, previously antagonized the Sky during a seven-season run with the Sun (2016-22), eliminating them from the playoffs in 2020 and 2022. He guided the Sun to the WNBA semifinals four straight years, reaching the finals in 2019 and 2022.
The Sparks spent this past season under Miller in a controlled free fall, landing the best odds in the Paige Bueckers sweepstakes (also known as the draft lottery), once Cameron Brink’s season-ending injury derailed the season. But those two losing seasons in LA aren’t an accurate reflection of Miller’s coaching acumen, which includes a 140-86 record with the Sun.
Miller almost certainly will land one of the vacancies by the time the carousel stops this winter. If his coaching identity — high-motor, defensive-minded teams — matches Pagliocca’s goals, he could be the right fit.
3. Katie Smith
If the Sky don’t — or can’t — hire either of the top two options, it will be time to focus on current assistant coaches. Smith is probably the first name that comes to mind; she has been the lead assistant to Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve since 2020.
Smith’s brief head coaching experience might raise some concern — she posted a 17-51 record over two seasons with the New York Liberty, then wasn’t re-signed after 2019 — but she inherited a broken system in New York. Her exit came after the team was purchased by Joe Tsai, whose ownership has ushered in a new wave of success for the franchise, including this year’s championship.
A Naismith Hall of Famer and three-time Olympic gold medalist, Smith has been praised for her rigor and attention to detail under Reeve, the most successful coach in league history. Smith was lauded for improving the shot profile of Bridget Carleton and Kayla McBride this year as the Lynx reached the WNBA Finals.
She would have to prove she can manage an entire roster in addition to developing players individually, but her successful tenure as an assistant should lead to another head coaching opportunity.
4. Tyler Marsh
Marsh has been an assistant coach for the Las Vegas Aces under Becky Hammon since 2022. A development-focused coach who also brings NBA assistant coach and video coordinator experience (Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors), Marsh was praised as a major factor in Jackie Young’s development into the league’s Most Improved Player in 2022.
The Aces bench already was plundered by the expansion Golden State Valkyries, who announced Natalie Nakase as their coach earlier this month. Nakase was part of the staff Hammon assembled in 2022 alongside Marsh, and the group quickly grew together as a brain trust of future leaders.
5. Kristi Toliver
The two-time WNBA champion is another assistant coach with experience in both the NBA and WNBA. Toliver spent the final six years of her playing career (2018-23) working during the offseason as an NBA assistant with the Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks. She joined Tibbetts’ Mercury staff this year as associate head coach, her first foray into WNBA coaching.
Toliver might be a year or two away from a head coaching position, but it could be worth it for the Sky to make a call and at least to try to entice her onto the coaching staff in some capacity.
