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WNBA Fans Caught Off Guard By Connecticut Sun's Stephanie White Replacement Hire

The Connecticut Sun hiring Rachid Meziane as their next head coach caught many fans by surprise.

Grant Young

Oct 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington (21) and forward DeWanna Bonner (24) look on during the second half of game five of the 2024 WNBA playoffs against the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Oct 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington (21) and forward DeWanna Bonner (24) look on during the second half of game five of the 2024 WNBA playoffs against the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Ever since Stephanie White left the Connecticut Sun to become the Indiana Fever's next head coach earlier in this WNBA offseason, there was a lot of intrigue around the league regarding who the Sun would replace her with.

And the answer to this was released on Wednesday when the Sun announced they had hired Rachid Meziane as their new head coach entering the 2025 season.

Meziane isn't a well-known name within the American women's basketball community. This is why the social media reaction around his hire included confused reactions, to say the least.

"I hope I don’t sound dumb saying this but I don’t know who this man is," wrote Janaé Sims in response to the hiring.

"Huh

"Ok

"Cool," added @cc22report.

Another fan added, "And who is this ?"

However, just because some fans don't know Meziane doesn't mean he isn't an excellent coach. According to the Sun's press release regarding the hire, "Meziane has served as the head coach of successful French women’s basketball club, Villeneuve d’Ascq, where he most recently led the team to a Ligue Feminine de Basketball (LFB) Championship and a EuroLeague runner up finish during the 2023-24 season."

It later added, "Meziane also led the Belgian Women’s National team, which included the talents of WNBA Champion and two-time WNBA All-Star Emma Meesseman and Washington Mystics rookie guard Julie Vanloo, to an impressive fourth place finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics".

Some who are more aware of Meziane's accolades are praising the hire.

"This is a HUGE hire for the Sun.

"- Coached Villeneuve D’Ascq to a EuroLeague Final last season

"- HC of the Belgian National Team

"- Very familiar with the overseas scene," wrote Alford Corriette.

Another X user added, "Love seeing teams go outside the box with coaching hires. He's a good coach, who was part of getting Belgium that final step from a very good team to actually winning a trophy. Hope he gets a fair shot in the US, because there will be a transition period, like with players."

Now the question becomes what Meziane's Sun roster looks like in 2025.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

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.

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