By DJ Harding
Connecticut Sun head coach Stephanie White has been named the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year.
White became the fourth former WNBA player to win coach of the year joining Suzie McConnell-Serio (2004), Sandy Brondello (2014), and Becky Hammond (2022).
White is the third Connecticut Sun head coach to receive this award and it’s the fifth time a Connecticut Sun coach has received this offer.
White joins Curt Miller (2021 and 2017) and Mike Thibault (2006 and 2008) as coaches to receive the award.
White received 36 votes from a national panel of 60 sportswriters and broadcasters. Latricia Trammell of the Dallas Wings finished in second place with 11 votes, and Brondello of the New York Liberty was third with six votes. Hammon of the Las Vegas Aces received three votes; Cheryl Reeve of the Minnesota Lynx and Tanisha Wright of the Atlanta Dream each received two votes.
In her third season as a WNBA head coach and her first with the Sun, White guided Connecticut to a 27-13 record and set the franchise record for victories in a season.
White was named the WNBA Coach of the Month for May after leading the team to a 4-1 record, marking the best start by a Sun head coach in their debut season with the franchise. The Indiana native earned a spot as a head coach in the 2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game after guiding the Sun to the second-best record (12-4) in the league through June. At the All-Star Game in Las Vegas, White led Team Stewart to a 143-127 victory over Team Wilson.
Coach White had two all stars in the all star game with DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas. The Sun as a team ranked second in the WNBA in defensive rating (98.8) and fourth in offensive rating (103.2). Connecticut allowed a league-low 79.0 points per game.
The 2023 season marks White’s 16th in the WNBA. She began her WNBA career with five seasons (1999-2003) as a player, first with the Charlotte Sting, then the Indiana Fever. As a coach, she spent four seasons as an assistant with both the Chicago Sky (2007-10) and the Fever (2011-14), helping Indiana win the 2012 WNBA championship. She took over as Fever head coach in 2015, leading Indiana to the WNBA Finals in her first season and another playoff appearance the following year.
Now Coach White along with the Connecticut Sun are a 3-seed as they look to return to the WNBA Finals.