Youth movement underway for Indiana Fever ahead of Friday’s season opener
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — There is going young and then there is the current game plan for Fever Head Coach Marianne Stanley in Indiana.
On Friday night in Washington D.C., Stanley will potentially start four rookies, three of which were selected inside the top ten picks of last month’s WNBA draft.
“I can’t recall … I don’t think I have ever started four rookies before,” Stanley told News 8 after Wednesday’s practice. “They are a good bunch with a lot of energy. They love to compete and coming from winning programs that compete at the highest level in college, makes a huge, huge difference.”
This draft class, headlined by No. 2 overall pick forward NaLyssa Smith out of Baylor, is tasked with erasing the worst four seasons in franchise history which all arrived over the past five years.
Smith played well in the preseason, receiving heavy playing time alongside rookies Queen Egbo of Baylor (No. 10 pick), Louisville’s Emily Engstler (No. 4 pick), Stanford’s Lexie Hull (No. 6 pick) and Destanni Henderson of South Carolina (No. 20).
Together, these five are learning their way around Indianapolis, a city that each admits is still a complete mystery without the help of GPS.
“I just know this (Indiana) is a basketball place,” Smith told News 8. “I love that about being here. I am from Texas, that is a football place, and just coming here where it is all about basketball is a great feeling.”
“Our vets are doing a good job of helping us and being patient, and so do the coaches,” Egbo told WISH-TV. “I feel like we are going to do a lot of great things this year.”
Alongside the rookies, guards Kelsey Mitchell (17.8 ppg) and Tiffany Mitchell (12 ppg) are the Fever’s two top returners from this past season.
Wing Victoria Vivians (6.8 ppg), who returned to the floor in 2021 following a serious knee injury in 2020, also will play a key role in Indiana.
Get to know these young game changers in Indiana, beginning with the team’s home opener Sunday afternoon against Los Angeles at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.