Big Ten Roundup (Sept. 18): Purdue Legend Stephanie White Wins WNBA Coach of the Year
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — All Stephanie White does is win.
In four seasons from Purdue from 1995-99, she won everything from the NCAA National Player of the Year to the national championship. And in 2023, White has won the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year, after leading the Connecticut Sun to a 27-13 record, the third-best mark in the league.
Here's everything you need to know in today's Big Ten Roundup:
Stephanie White Wins WNBA Coach of the Year
After falling just short in the 2022 WNBA Finals, the Sun lost longtime head coach Curt Miller, and superstar Jonquel Jones was traded to the New York Liberty. Everyone following and covering the league expected Connecticut to take a major step back.
So of course, with White as their new coach, the Sun shocked everyone, and finished with the the league's third-best record and a new WNBA MVP candidate in Alyssa Thomas.
While 2023 was White's first season in Connecticut, it was far from her first rodeo in the WNBA. She coached the 2015 and 2016 Indiana Fever teams, and led the Fever to the finals appearance in her very first season. White also spent five seasons as a player in the WNBA after her time at Purdue, first in a lone season for the Charlotte Sting, and the remaining four with the Indiana Fever.
Prior to joining the Sun, White coached the Vanderbilt women's basketball team for six seasons from 2016-21.
White is a legend in the Boilermakers' women's basketball program. She was the star of the 1999 national championship team, the only women's basketball team in the history of the Big Ten to win the title. Maryland won the 2006 national title, but wasn't in the conference at that time.
During her four seasons in West Lafayette, White tallied 2,182 points, and in addition to winning 1999's NCAA Player of the Year, she was named the Big Ten Player of the Year. White averaged 20.2 points per game while shooting 43.7% from three during her senior season.
The Sun, however, are in danger of being upset in the first round by the Minnesota Lynx. The WNBA does best-of-three series in the first round, with the higher seeds getting the first two games at home, and the do-or-die elimination game taking place at the lower-seeded team's arena.
Connecticut and White won game one, but were defeated 82-75 in game two by Minnesota. White and the Sun will play in a decisive game three at Target Center on Wednesday, Sept. 20, needing a win to advance to the second round of the WNBA playoffs.
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