Connecticut Sun's Stephanie White named 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year

Connecticut Sun head coach StephanieWhite has been named the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year, the WNBAannounced today.

White becomes the fourth former WNBAplayer to win the award, joining Becky Hammon (2022), SandyBrondello (2014) and Suzie McConnell-Serio (2004). This marks thefifth Coach of the Year honor in Sun history, and White is thethird different Connecticut coach to earn the award (Mike Thibault,2006 and 2008; Curt Miller, 2017 and 2021).

White received 36 votes from anational panel of 60 sportswriters and broadcasters.LatriciaTrammell of the Dallas Wings finished in second place with 11votes, and Brondello of the New York Liberty was third with sixvotes. Hammon of the Las Vegas Aces received three votes;Cheryl Reeve of the Minnesota Lynx and Tanisha Wright of theAtlanta Dream each received two votes.

In her third season as a WNBA headcoach and her first with the Sun, White guided Connecticut to a27-13 record and set the franchise record for victories in aseason. The No. 3-seeded Sun will continue its quest for thefranchise’s first WNBA championship when it hosts the No. 6-seededLynx today in Game 2 of a first-round playoff series (1 p.m. ET,ESPN). Connecticut leads the series 1-0.

White was named the WNBA Coach of theMonth for May after leading the team to a 4-1 record, marking thebest start by a Sun head coach in their debut season with thefranchise. The Indiana native earned a spot as a head coach in the2023 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game after guiding the Sun to thesecond-best record (12-4) in the league through June. At theAll-Star Game in Las Vegas, White led Team Stewart to a 143-127victory over Team Wilson.

Beginning the season with a talentedveteran core, White replaced the production of former Kia WNBA MVPJonquel Jones, who had departed via free agency, and subsequentlyguided the Sun through the loss of 2022 Kia WNBA Sixth Player ofthe Year and two-time All-Star Brionna Jones, who sustained aseason-ending Achilles injury on June 20.

Under White’s guidance, forward AlyssaThomas and forward-guard DeWanna Bonner were selected as 2023 WNBAAll-Stars during their memorable seasons. Thomas posted a WNBAsingle-season record six triple-doubles and became the first playerin league history to log triple-doubles in consecutive games, doingso twice. She also led the league in rebounding (9.9 rpg), rankedsecond in assists (7.9 apg) and equaled her career high in scoring(15.5 ppg). Bonner became the first player in Sun history to recordconsecutive games of 30 or more points and scored a career-high 41points in a 94-77 win over the Aces on June 8. She averaged 17.4points for the season, the third-highest figure of her career.

As a team, the Sun ranked second inthe WNBA in defensive rating (98.8) and fourth in offensive rating(103.2). Connecticut allowed a league-low 79.0 points per game.

The 2023 season marks White’s16thin the WNBA. She began her WNBA career withfive seasons (1999-2003) as a player, first with the CharlotteSting, then the Indiana Fever. As a coach, she spent four seasonsas an assistant with both the Chicago Sky (2007-10) and the Fever(2011-14), helping Indiana win the 2012 WNBA championship. She tookover as Fever head coach in 2015, leading Indiana to the WNBAFinals in her first season and another playoff appearance thefollowing year.

Below are the voting results for the2023 WNBA Coach of the Year Award: