Stephanie White

Stephanie Joanne White (formerly Stephanie White-McCarty; born June 20, 1977) is an American professional basketball coach, analyst, and former player who is the head coach of the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was previously head coach of the WNBA Connecticut Sun in the 2023 and 2024 seasons and Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team from 2016 to 2021. Before Vanderbilt, she was the head coach of the WNBA Indiana Fever for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. As an intercollegiate athlete, she was named the winner of the Wade Trophy in 1999, which recognizes the top female basketball player in the nation. She was then traded to the Indiana Fever in exchange for Sandy Brondello and a 2000 first-round draft pick. After four years with the Fever, she ranked third in games played and three point field goals (92), and fourth in scoring (684). She averaged 5.9 points and 2.0 assists per game.

National team career White competed with USA Basketball as a member of the 1997 Jones Cup Team that won the silver medal in Taipei. Several of the games were close, with the USA team winning four games by six points or fewer, including an overtime game in the semifinal match against Japan. The gold medal game against South Korea was also close, but the USA fell 76–71 to claim the silver medal for the event. White was the second leading scorer for the team, averaging 10.3 points per game. and went on to become the assistant coach at Ball State (2003–04), Kansas State (2004–05), and the University of Toledo (2005–07),

A 1999 general communications major graduate, Since 2007, White has also served as a college basketball analyst for ESPN and the Big Ten Network, including studio work and co-hosting the network's coverage of the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament. White has also worked as an Indiana Pacers Reporter for FOX Sports Indiana.

White returned to the Indiana Fever as an assistant coach in 2011. When Lin Dunn retired as head coach of the Fever after the 2014 season, White became head coach. In her first season as head coach, Indiana went 20–14 overall and made their second WNBA Finals appearance, losing the best-of-five series to the Minnesota Lynx. White was the first rookie coach in WNBA history to lead a team to the WNBA Finals. In 2016, her second season with the Fever, the team made it to the playoffs for the 12th consecutive time, finished the season with a 17–17 record and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Phoenix Mercury.

On May 23, 2016, White accepted the head coaching job for the Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball team. She completed the 2016 season with the Fever, finishing her time there with a 37–31 overall record and a 6–6 record in the postseason. Through her five seasons at Vanderbilt, White compiled a 46–83 overall record and went 13–55 against Southeastern Conference competition. Her fifth season at Vanderbilt was shortened in January 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns, injuries, and a depleted roster. The school announced that White would not be returning as coach on April 6, 2021.

White returned to coaching in the WNBA in 2023 as head coach of the Connecticut Sun. The team had 27–13 and 28–12 records in 2023 and 2024, respectively, losing in the second round of the playoffs each time. White was named WNBA Coach of the Year. White and the Sun parted ways on October 28, 2024, following two consecutive playoff semifinals appearances.

She was hired by the Indiana Fever for a second stint on November 1.

Career statistics WNBA Denotes season(s) in which White won an NCAA Championship

Regular season

Playoffs

College

Head coaching record College

WNBA

Personal life She married her high school sweetheart, Brent McCarty, in 1998. The couple divorced in 2002.

White earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Purdue University in 1999. She also earned Academic All-American honors twice and was inducted in Phi Beta Kappa. White was inducted into the Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006 and the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 2017.

White publicly identified as a lesbian in 2015, starting a relationship with and marrying Michelle Fletcher. Due to the then active same-sex marriage ban in Indiana, the couple travelled to California to be legally married. In 2011, White gave birth to their first child. About two years later, the couple welcomed twin boys to their family.

White and her current partner, reporter Lisa Salters, reside in Nashville, Tennessee with Salters' son, and White's three sons.

Awards and honors 1995 — Indiana Miss Basketball 1999 — Wade Trophy 1999 — Honda Sports Award for basketball 2006 — Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame 2017 — Purdue University Emerging Voice Award