The Indiana Fever officially introduced Stephanie White as their head coach on Monday night. White was joined by president Kelly Krauskopf and general manager Amber Cox in the press conference. She sets the record straight about her goals in her second stint in charge of the Fever.

White, who is coming off two successful seasons with the Connecticut Sun, returned home to Indiana and became the new coach of the Fever. It’s her second time with the franchise as head coach, but she also played for them in the early 2000s and was an assistant when the franchise won its first title in 2012.

Winning another championship is on White’s mind and is one of her ultimate goals. She’s one of the best coaches in the WNBA, and it will help to have players such as Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston on the roster.

“I am so incredibly honored, so humbled, so thankful, grateful and excited to lead this franchise and taking it to another level,” White said. “You’ve got incredibly talented players right here in Caitlin and Aliyah and Lexi (Hull). A team that was incredibly fun to watch, very tough to game plan against. I’m glad I’m going to get to work with you guys, work with you ladies, instead of having to think about how to stop you.

The new coach added:

“The future is so bright, and our ultimate goal is to hang another banner in the (Gainbridge) Fieldhouse. And our ultimate goal is to come back in here after we win that championship and celebrate again like we did in 2012.”

Stephanie White served as an assistant coach for the Indiana Fever from 2011 to 2014 before getting promoted to head coach in 2015. White guided the Fever back to the WNBA Finals in her first season in charge, but they lost to the Minnesota Lynx in five games.

Stephanie White looking to build around Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston

Stephanie White looking to build around Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston (Photo: IMAGN)

The Indiana Fever had the No. 1 pick in the past two drafts, selecting Aliyah Boston in 2023 and Caitlin Clark in 2024. The duo led the Fever to their first playoff appearance since 2016 when Stephanie White was still the team’s head coach.

Speaking at the press conference, White gushed about coaching Boston and Clark rather than thinking about stopping them. She wants to build around the duo and possibly turn them into the next John Stockton-Karl Malone partnership.

“You’ve got the bookends that you want to build around,” White said. “These two are the best. There’s so many things that they do well right now, and you saw the difference from the beginning of the season to the end and how much better they got with one another. How much they could anticipate, how they facilitated with one another, but there’s so much room for growth, when you think about a Stockton and Malone.”

The Fever have a solid core of players, although Kelsey Mitchell is entering free agency and there are speculations about NaLyssa Smith’s future with the team.