As the Indiana Fever search for firm footing in the aftermath of Tamika Catchings’ move from the hardwood to the front office, the team on Tuesday announced basketball lifer and 2019 WNBA Champion Marianne Stanley as its new head coach.
Stanley was an assistant in the Pac-10 during the 1990s but jumped to the WNBA in 2000 with the Los Angeles Sparks. She became the WNBA Coach of the Year in 2002 with the Washington Mystics before eventually returning to Washington under Mike Thibault to help him build a champion around Elena Delle Donne.
They finished the job this summer, as the Mystics defeated the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA Finals to win the franchise’s first title.
It was that “championship mentality” that stuck out to Catchings, who became Vice President of Basketball Operations upon retirement and will now move to the general manager’s seat above Stanley.
The Fever on Sept. 9 fired head coach and general manager Pokey Chatman. That move paired with Tuesday’s announcement indicates the strategy in reforming the Fever braintrust was centered around Catchings becoming GM.
Read More