WNBA team’s new coaching staff signals beginning of a new era

It’s a new era in Connecticut Sun basketball — with longtime franchise players Alyssa Thomas and Brionna Jones, among others, departing the organization this past summer.

The new era also means a new coaching staff will occupy the Mohegan Sun Arena sidelines; Stephanie White is now leading the Indiana Fever, and the Sun have hired Belgium national team coach Rachid Meziane.

On Monday, Meziane announced his entire coaching staff. Several members are returning — Ryan Newton as head athletic trainer and physical therapist, Jeanie Brookes as assistant athletic trainer and Analisse Rios as strength and conditioning coach.

But, Meziane is also bringing in a slew of brand-new staff members, inclduing:

• Chaz Franklin as the new Head of Player Development. Franklin was most recently the director of player development for Marquette University Women’s basketball, and before that was the director of player development for the Chicago Sky. Also joining the player development staff are Kevin Owens and Bak Sawi. Sawi was most recently was an assistant men’s basketball coach at Southern Coast Academy prep school, while Owens was previously the team’s video coordinator during the 2023 season, and
• Kristen Mann as the Manager of Basketball Development. She is a former professional basketball player who was in the WNBA from 2005 to 2010, and also played overseas for nearly 20 years.
• Kristina Beauchais as the Manager of Basketball Operations after coaching basketball in Maine the last four years and previously coaching high school and collegiate basketball.

Rachid Meziane will coach the new-look Connecticut Sun

Rachid Meziane previously served as the head coach of Villeneuve-d’Ascq, a French club that was the EuroLeague runner-up winners in each of the last two seasons. He also coached the Belgian women’s national team that came in fourth place at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

As it currently stands, the 2024-25 Connecticut Sun roster will be headlined by Natasha Cloud, Marina Mabrey, Tina Charles, Jacy Sheldon, and Olivia Nelson-Ododa, among others.

Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images

Cloud, one of the WNBA’s premier guard defenders, averaged 11.5 points, 6.9 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in Phoenix last season.

Mabrey, who was traded to Connecticut in July, also requested a trade, but it appears the Sun want to hold onto both guards. Mabrey averaged 14.9 points and shot 42.4% from three during the part of the season she spent as a Sun.

Charles, meanwhile, returns to the franchise that drafted her 15 years after her WNBA career began. The WNBA’s second-leading all-time scorer, and all-time leading rebounder, signed a one-year deal with the Sun last month.

Meziane will work to keep Connecticut competitive despite the significant amount of roster turnover, and in Cloud, Mabrey, and Charles, he has three veteran players who have significantly produced throughout their careers. Under Meziane, the new additions to the Sun coaching staff will work to maximize that talent.