By 
Congratulations to the Connecticut Sun’s Stephanie White, winner of the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year Award.
After leading the Sun to a 27-13 record and No. 3 seed in her very first season in Connecticut, White got 36 of 60 first-place votes from a panel of media members. The Dallas Wings’ Latricia Trammell ended up second with 11 first-place votes, while the New York Liberty’s Sandy Brondello was 3rd with 6 votes. Others getting votes were: Becky Hammon of the Las Vegas Aces (3), Cheryl Reeve of the Minnesota Lynx (2) and Tanisha Wright of the Atlanta Dream (2).
White is the 4th previous gamer and 3rd previous Sun coach to win the award, signing up with Hammon (2022), Brondello (2014) and Suzie McConnell-Serio (2004) in the previous classification and Mike Thibault (2006, 2008) and Curt Miller (2017, 2021) in the latter.
White has actually sustained the Sun’s success
Out of the WNBA training ranks considering that 2016, when she led the Indiana Fever to the franchise’s last playoff look, Stephanie White shown up in Uncasville, Connecticut anticipated to do something various however likewise to keep things the exact same.
Since 2017, the Sun have actually been a postseason component and, with lineup arranged around a trio of All-Star gamers in Alyssa Thomas, Brionna Jones and DeWanna Bonner, a playoff look, at minimum, stayed the expectation under White. Yet, the departures of previous head coach Curt Miller and previous MVP Jonquel Jones signified that the Sun likewise required a refresh, with White entrusted with assisting Connecticut out of a sense of stagnancy.
White skillfully fixed this riddle, even as it was made harder when Brionna Jones suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in late June.
She did so by leaning even more into the Sun’s strength, empowering the avatar of the Sun’s hostility and athleticism in Alyssa Thomas. Under White, Thomas created among the most special seasons in WNBA history, working as a flexible, protective anchor on one end while running as the main offending initiator on the other as she developed brand-new records for triple-doubles (6) and double-doubles (28) in a single season.
DeWanna Bonner likewise reversed the clock under White’s tutelage, with the 36 years of age having her most effective and reliable scoring season in a Sun uniform. Offseason addition Rebecca Allen has actually been enhanced as a protector in Connecticut. And, as Eric Nemchock kept in mind when making her Coach of the Year case, White has empowered young gamers more than her predecessor, evidenced by DiJonai Carrington developing herself as a Sixth Player of the Year prospect in her 3rd season in the W.
Can White and Connecticut declare the franchise’s very first champion?
That a title is a possible for the Sun may be the greatest testimony to White’s success.
In the “Season of the Super Team,” with the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty anticipated plainly to beat all other groups on their method to a champion clash, it would not be a shock if the Sun interrupted this fate, bumping, bruising and breaking their method back to the Finals.
Regardless, White has actually revealed she was the best individual to browse the present and coming periods of Connecticut basketball.
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