Stephanie White Provides Uncertain Injury Update on Fever Rookie Justine Pissott
Prior to the Indiana Fever's second preseason contest against the Dallas Wings, head coach Stephanie White provided a rather vague injury update on rookie Justine Pissott.
White disclosed that a lower leg injury that bothered Pissott during her collegiate days has seemed to rear its head early on in her professional career.
"I have no idea how long she'll be out. I know she was having some issues, I know she had some stuff collegiately as well, she was going to see the doctor. I don't have exactly what it is, but again it's early so we'll take things as they come and make sure that she gets the attention and time that she needs," White said pregame.
Given what the Fever went through last season as it pertains to injuries, this is the last thing they want to hear. The team has already been impacted by injuries to Aliyah Boston, Lexie Hull and Tyasha Harris that have cost all of them playing time this preseason, but White did say those players are being held out for precautionary measures. Hopefully it is much of the same in Pissott's case, but based on White's pregame presser the door is still open for having cause for concern.
The Indiana Fever Have High Hopes for Justine Pissott
In her professional debut against the New York Liberty, Pissott showed promising talent. In just 10 minutes played she finished with 8 points, 1 assist and 1 rebound. She was a solid pickup out of Vanderbilt for the Fever given that she projects as a possible floor stretcher at power forward, something Indiana has lacked in recent seasons.
The team signed her to a development contract, which is a new wrinkle under the recently agreed to CBA that opened two such spots for each team. Pissott can participate in practices and team activities and can be activated for up to 12 games throughout the season if she stays on the development deal. Other teams do have the chance to sign development players to regular contracts but their current teams have the right of first refusal if they choose to move them to standard deals.
Pissott's shooting ability should be a good fit around the team's foundation and as an outlet for the playmaking of Caitlin Clark. She finished her collegiate career hitting threes at an elite rate in her final season (42.2%) and could turn out to be one of the steals of the draft.
In the meantime, her progression would appear to be on pause until further information is gathered on the extent of her injury.
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Lindsay Burke covers women’s basketball for Indiana Fever On SI and Women’s Fastbreak On SI. She graduated from Purdue University Fort Wayne with a Bachelor's Degree in journalism and a minor in media production. Early in her career she covered ECHL hockey, the NFL and college football and has since expanded her expertise to the WNBA and the Fever franchise.
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