Stephanie White's Angel Reese Sentiment Resurfaces Amid Chicago Sky Coaching Rumors
Ever since the Chicago Sky announced their firing of first-year head coach Teresa Weatherspoon at the end of their 2024 WNBA season, fans have been curious to see who will lead Angel Reese and her teammates come 2025.
Early indications were that Los Angeles Sparks coach Curt Miller was a lead candidate for the job, which didn't make Sky fans excited.
Then it was reported that Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White — who was an assistant coach for the Sky from 2007-2010, led the Sun to a 55-25 overall record in two seasons, and was named 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year — could become available this offseason. This had the Sky's fanbase clamoring for White to return to Chicago.
Another update from Chicago Sun-Times reporter Annie Costabile on Wednesday will give these Sky fans another reason for excitement.
"THE LATEST: Stephanie White has been in talks with multiple teams regarding her future. The three teams remaining in picture at this point are the Sky, Fever and Sun according to multiple league sources," Costabile wrote on X.
THE LATEST: Stephanie White has been in talks with multiple teams regarding her future. The three teams remaining in picture at this point are the Sky, Fever and Sun according to multiple league sources.
— Annie Costabile (@AnnieCostabile) October 23, 2024
She later added, "The Stephanie White sweepstakes still includes the Sky, giving the franchise a shot at course-correcting their post-title collapse."
Rumors of White potentially joining the Sky caused social media to dig up praise that White had for Chicago superstar Angel Reese earlier this season.
"Her activity level is just so good," White said of Reese after an August 25 game, per X user @msbaeski. “Even if she’s not scoring the basketball she’s making plays. She’s getting opportunities for her teammates, she's getting offensive rebounds.
"She's an elite rebounder. That's a skillset that she came into this league with. Her offensive game is continuing to grow... But her activity level is elite, and it makes her really tough to defend,” White added.
Connecticut Sun head coach, Stephanie White on Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel):
— msbaeski (@msbaeski) August 25, 2024
“Even if she’s not scoring the basketball she’s making plays, she’s getting opportunities for her teammates. Her activity level is elite, it makes her really tuff to defend” pic.twitter.com/S5COmc4W6K
Clearly White has a lot of respect for the Sky's franchise player. Perhaps this will convince her to become Reese's next head coach.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.