The Connecticut Sun has a lot of changes on the leadership front, but the Sun’s new CEOMorgan Tuck, still waiting for Connecticut’s success.
“It’s a whole team of players that will have a new coach. Obviously, sometimes there’s a lot of uncertainty around change, and so I think a lot [the message to players] it’s just comforting that change isn’t always bad,” Tuck said in his first news conference as general manager. “It’s a little uncomfortable. It makes us all a little nervous, but we understand that this is just part of the business and part of being on a team. Luckily, we have very resilient players.”
“We always appreciate our players giving us feedback, and we want to make sure that not only them, but our entire organization feels good about it.”
Besides Tuck, the Sun announced on Wednesday that Rachid Meziane would take over as Connecticut’s head coach following the departure of Stephanie White to the Indiana Fever.
“It’s a little different hire, a little different coach, and I think when you bring a different perspective, a different background, I think that’s always a benefit,” Tuck said of Meziane. “Our team has been very good. It’s not a situation where we feel like we have to start over and do things totally different. He will be different. He’s going to bring some different aspects, but I think at the same time, the goal is for us to be successful.”
Meziane currently coaches in France and will move to Connecticut before the season, but his experience coaching championship-winning teams can help the Sun overcome their semifinal slump.
“His different perspective, his career, his international work. You always want to have someone who understands the game, not just here, but internationally. We’ve been able to pull it off, and we’re excited to see how it all comes together.”
Despite all the changes, the Sun has one similarity to last season: Connecticut will play another game at the TD Garden.
The Sun will take on the Indiana Fever on July 15 when they host Caitlin Clark and White, who was hired as head coach of the Fever on November 1 few days later she and the Sun broke up.
“We played Sparks last year and we still sold out, and it was a great environment. Sometimes I think that’s how the schedule ends, but honestly, whoever we play, it’s going to be really exciting. It’s something different. It’s something that doesn’t happen very often. So I think for us it doesn’t matter who we play, we just want to win,” Tuck said. “We’ve got to beat Indiana … that’s the way it goes. So we have to do it in Boston, that’s fine.”
For Tuck, who played at the University of Connecticut and won four straight NCAA titles with the Huskies, success for his time as GM looks like a championship for the Sun as Connecticut seeks its first franchise title in the WNBA.
“Winning championships is always an accomplishment in my book. I think that’s something that we always have to aspire to,” he said. “Now, I think there are other levels of success that aren’t necessarily always winning championships, so I would say it’s on the court, we want to win championships “.
“For myself, looking at success, you want to leave a really positive impact and a legacy where you’ve impacted the people around you, whether it’s our players, whether it’s people in the front office and just basketball in general.” .