Stephanie White Explains Why South Carolina Can't Keep Up With UConn
While Indiana Fever fans know Stephanie White as their head coach, perhaps they don't know that much of White's coaching history came at the college ranks.
After her own playing career ended, White was an assistant coach at Ball State University for a season, then went to Kansas State for a season, then went to Toledo for three seasons. After that, White went to the professional ranks and was an assistant with the Chicago Sky for a few years and then came to the Fever, where she was an assistant for a few more years, through 2014.
Then White became the Fever's head coach for the 2015 and 2016 seasons before taking her talents to Vanderbilt, where she remained until 2021. Although White produced a 46–83 (.357) record during her five seasons at Vanderbilt, she clearly showed enough for the Connecticut Sun to hire her as a head coach in 2023, which clearly was a good call.
Therefore, White has a clear love and understanding of the college game. Not to mention that she works as a basketball analyst for ESPN and the Big Ten Network during the WNBA offseason, which means that she can take off her Fever coaching hat and think critically about other teams, both in the professional ranks and in college.
Stephanie White Questions South Carolina’s Ability To Beat UConn
Right now, the basketball world's focus is on the NCAA Tournament, where the UConn Huskies look about as dominant as any team has ever looked. While one would typically say that UConn's toughest test would be Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks, even White doesn't seem to believe this is the case, which she conveyed during a March 26 segment on ESPN.
When asked what or who UConn's biggest challenge will be this year, White said, "That's a good question. Because they're so good, they're so efficient, they're so deep. You know, I think there are two teams that stand out to me. Texas, number one.
"I would always give an outside look to South Carolina, certainly, because they have the experience, they've been there before. I just don't think this South Carolina team has enough offensive firepower to keep up with UConn," White added.
Fever coach Stephanie White on why she doesn’t see South Carolina having a shot at beating UConn this year: pic.twitter.com/tN1Im4jf0K
— Grant Young (@GrvntYoung) March 27, 2026
Perhaps Staley's Gamecocks squad will prove White wrong. Regardless, White's star center, Aliyah Boston (who played for South Carolina in college), probably won't appreciate this take from her head coach.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever 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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