Team Also Announces Expansion of Catchings’ Duties to Include G.M.

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever today announced Marianne Stanley as the seventh coach in the franchise’s 20-year WNBA history.

Stanley, a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and one of the great names in women’s basketball as both a coach and a player, has served as an assistant with the Washington Mystics since 2010 and helped head coach Mike Thibault lead the Mystics to the 2019 WNBA championship. In 2002 as head coach of the Mystics, she was named WNBA Coach of the Year.

The Fever also announced that Tamika Catchings, currently the vice president of basketball operations, will expand her duties to include serving as general manager.

“The future of the Fever is bright with the addition of Coach Stanley to our organization,” said Dr. Allison Barber, Fever president and COO. “Our players and our fans know that we are committed to growing a competitive franchise that will make significant contributions to our community and to the future of women and girls in sports. I am optimistic about the work of Tamika, Coach Stanley and our team.”

“We are excited to bring Marianne Stanley in as our Indiana Fever Head Coach,” said Catchings. “Stanley is hands down one of the most decorated and experienced coaches in the WNBA. The thing that excites me most is her ability to see and teach the game. Coming off the Mystics’ championship run this year, she brings a championship type mentality and knows what it takes to win – both on and off the court. The focus since the season ended has been finding the right leader for our team and organization. We are on the right path with Marianne.”

Said Stanley, “I am excited to join the Indiana Fever organization and to have an opportunity to work with the great core group that has been built. I felt a connection, a fire and an excitement about stepping on board as the next Head Coach of the Fever. I could not ask for more committed and passionate partners than Allison Barber and Tamika Catchings. They are first-class people, dedicated professionals and tireless advocates for Fever basketball. Tamika is the embodiment of the type of competitor and champion that we hope to develop with the Fever. I look forward to working together with Tamika, Allison and the outstanding, talented core group of Fever players in the quest to build a championship culture and mindset here in Indianapolis.”

As a college coach, Stanley posted a 415-224 record 21 seasons, winning a pair of AIAW championships (1979 and 1980) as well as an NCAA crown (1985) as the head coach at Old Dominion University. She also coached at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, Stanford University and the University of California. In 2007, she assisted C. Vivian Stringer during Rutgers University’s run to the NCAA Championship game.

Stanley is also very familiar with the WNBA. In addition to her stints with the Mystics, she has been an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Sparks and the New York Liberty.

Stanley has earned numerous accolades throughout her career. She was named the Pac-10 Conference Coach of the Year in 1993, the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 1984 and 1985, and an All-American selection as a player in 1975 and 1976 at Immaculata College. She led the Might Macs to AIAW national titles in 1973 and ’74 and they were inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.

In 2002, she was inducted in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Stanley also has coached internationally, serving as head coach of USA squad that competed in the 1985 Women’s Junior World Championships as well as assisting with the USA team that captured the gold medal in both the World Championships and Goodwill Games in 1986 and the bronze medal in the 1991 Pan American Games.