Assistant Coach Stephanie White honored by WNBA's Indiana Fever
Mar 19, 2005 | Women's Basketball
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (AP) The Indiana Fever threw a retirement party Friday night for Kansas State assistant women's basketball coach Stephanie White, an Indiana high school star who led Purdue to its only NCAA women's basketball championship.
White, who spent her rookie WNBA season with Charlotte in 1999, returned to her home state the next year when the Fever joined the league as an expansion team. She was the Fever's last link to their original roster.
''The community has been so important to me,'' she said at a ceremony in her honor Friday night. ''Not many people can start and finish their careers in their home state.''
White, 27, announced her retirement as a player in April to become an assistant coach at Kansas State. In a halftime ceremony at the game between the Fever and the New York Liberty, White was praised by her former Seeger High School coach, Tom Hall, and by Lin Dunn, who was her coach at Purdue and is now an assistant with the Fever.
She also was given a framed replica of her jersey.
''It was obvious at an early age that Steph had the talent to play at a high level and it didn't take long to find out Steph was special,'' Hall said.
''One of the best days in Indiana basketball was when Purdue recruited Stephanie,'' Dunn said.
White's decision to quit playing came after injuries plagued her last five seasons.
She finished with 843 career points, ranked third in Fever history in games played (112) and 3-pointers (92), fourth in scoring (684) and averaged 5.9 points and 2.0 assists during her career.
She missed all of the 2002 season after surgery on her left ankle and right knee. She tore a ligament in her left knee in 2003 and was limited to just 12 starts last year because of knee and back trouble.
White spent parts of the past four years as an assistant coach, including one season each at Lafayette Jeff and Logansport high schools. She was an assistant at Ball State before joining Kansas State's staff last season.
White was named Indiana high school Miss Basketball in 1995 when she finished with a then-record 2,869 points.
She went on to star in the Big Ten, earning All-America honors at Purdue and leading the Boilermakers to the 1999 national championship. That year, White won the Wade Trophy as the nation's top female player, averaging 20.2 points and 4.5 assists as a senior.
She finished as the Boilermakers' No. 2 career scorer, with 2,182 points.
