The WNBA now has all of its head coaching spots filled after there were a record seven open positions this offseason.
Dallas named Chris Koclanes as its head coach on Monday and then an hour later Washington hired Sydney Johnson as its new head, rounding out the seven hirings.
There’s no common thread among the seven hires as three were former college head coaches (Karl Smesko, Lynne Roberts and Johnson), two were WNBA assistants (Koclanes and Tyler Marsh) and one is an international coach (Rachid Meziane).
Stephanie White is the only former WNBA head coach to get one of the positions as she moved from Connecticut to Indiana.
With the addition of Golden State next season, which hired Natalie Nakase as it’s coach, the 13 teams will have seven women in charge and six men.
At the end of the 2022 season, half of the 12 head coaches in the league were Black. Three years later that number is down to three with Seattle’s Noelle Quinn the only Black female left after Teresa Weatherspoon (Chicago) and Tanisha Wright (Atlanta) were fired. Nakase is the first Asian American to lead a WNBA franchise.
Two of the openings did go to Black men in Johnson and Marsh.
The WNBA now does have three Black general managers with Morgan Tuck in Connecticut, Ohemaa Nyanin in Golden State and Jamila Wideman in Washington.
Here’s a look at the eight new coaches in the WNBA:
Smesko comes to the WNBA after spending 23 years at Florida Gulf Coast. He had the third highest winning percentage (.829) among active coaches, trailing only UConn’s Geno Auriemma and LSU’s Kim Mulkey. His teams have constantly been near the top in the country in 3-point shooting and the Dream have talented players in Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray.
Marsh heads to the Sky after a successful stint as an assistant coach in Las Vegas, helping the Aces win consecutive championships in 2022 and 2023. Marsh inherits a squad led by talented post players Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso. The Sky also have the No. 3 pick in next year’s WNBA draft.
Meziane comes to the WNBA after coaching professionally in France for many years as well as leading Belgium’s national team. Belgium came in fourth at the Paris Olympics this past summer. He inherits a team in flux with many of its top players unrestricted free agents.
Koclanes worked with new GM Curt Miller in Connecticut on his staff from 2016-22 and helped the Sun reach the WNBA Finals in 2019 and 2022. Miller was hired as the Wings’ general manager last month. The Wings have the No. 1 pick in the draft next April as well as a strong nucleus headlined by Arike Ogunbowale.
Nakase is the first coach in the expansion franchise’s history. She had a lot of success as an assistant in Las Vegas and the franchise got its initial set of players through the expansion draft earlier this month. The Valkyries, who have the No. 5 pick in the draft, also are expected to be active in free agency which begins next month.
White came back to the Fever after leading the Connecticut Sun the last two seasons. She has a stellar young core to work with led by the last two WNBA Rookie of the Year winners, Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. White has decided she has some unfinished business to complete in her second stint as Indiana’s head coach.
Roberts is returning to her native California after spending nine seasons in charge of Utah where she went 165-116. She was the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in 2023. She inherits a team that has a strong young nucleus of Rickea Jackson, Cameron Brink and Dearica Hamby. The Sparks have the No. 2 pick in next year’s WNBA draft.
Johnson has worked with USA Basketball over the past five years as well as being an assistant coach with the Chicago Sky last season. Before that the 50-year-old Princeton grad spent eight years as head coach of Fairfield University men’s team (2011-2019), leading the Stags to four postseason appearances. He inherits a team led by Shakira Austin, Brittney Sykes and Ariel Atkins.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
