Caitlin Clark was left stunned by Stephanie White’s vast “knowledge” when the Indiana Fever faced the Connecticut Sun this season and is keen to see how White’s superior scouting system will benefit the Fever.

Indiana officially announced White as its new head coach on Monday, following the dismissal of her predecessor Christie Sides on Oct. 27. White, 47, was a high school star in Indiana herself and played for the Fever from 2000 to 2004.

She later served as the Fever’s assistant coach under Lin Dunn, playing a key role in the franchise’s WNBA championship win in 2012, before taking over as their head coach from 2015 to 2016. White enjoyed two successful years as the Connecticut Sun’s head coach, claiming the WNBA Coach of the Year award in 2023. She guided them to victory against the Clark-led Fever in Round 1 of the 2024 WNBA playoffs.

White will now join forces with 2024 Rookie of the Year Clark, regarded as one of the league’s greatest ever talents, to form a powerful partnership for the upcoming 2025 season. Point guard Clark, along with team-mates Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull, posed with their new head coach at Monday’s unveiling.

The 22-year-old prodigy expressed her full support for White by emphasizing how well she had prepared Connecticut for their matches against Indiana earlier this year. Clark voiced her excitement to play under the new head coach, who she hopes will apply the same knowledge she used to identify the Fever stars’ weaknesses to now aid the team.

Clark said: “We know how much of a legend she is in Indiana. I think that’s really cool,” before adding: “Playing against her, I would say I felt like her teams always had the best scouts against us.

Caitlin Clark and Christie Sides

Caitlin Clark noticed Stephanie White’s incredible basketball knowledge while playing under former Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides ( 

Image:

Luke Hales/Getty Images)

“I think that just speaks to her knowledge of the game and her way to analyze, and she clearly was on to something. Hopefully, in turn, now that she knows how to stop us, that should be a good way to know how to [help us] beat certain things as well.”

White reciprocated the excitement about working with two Rookies of the Year in Clark and Boston, saying: “You’ve got the point guard and the center – you have the bookends that you want to build around.

“These two (Clark and Boston) are the best. There’s so many things they do well right now. And you saw the difference between the beginning of the season to the end of the season, and how much better they got with one another.”