The Chicago Sky announced the hiring of a new assistant head coach to join Tyler Marsh's staff on Saturday, but the name is familiar. Tanisha Wright. Wright was the head coach of the Atlanta Dream from 2021 to 2024 before being fired in early October. Her replacement will be a longtime FGCU head coach. Karl Smesko.
Mr. Wright will primarily contribute to strengthening the organization centered around Mr. Angel Reese. Camila CardosoSky's first-round draft pick in 2024.
Before becoming a coach, Wright played 14 seasons in the WNBA, 10 of them with the Seattle Storm. She was an elite defender and was named to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team five times and All-Defensive Second Team twice.
“Tanisha has more than 10 years of experience in the WNBA and has built an outstanding career as a player and coach,” Marsh said, according to the team's official press release. “With her proven track record and long history of player development, she will help us build a winning culture at Sky.”
The team previously announced that former WNBA player Courtney Parise would be one of Marsh's assistant coaches. Paris most recently worked as an assistant coach for the Dallas Wings under Latricia Trammell.
It's worth noting that Marsh's first two assistant coach hires are both standouts with former WNBA coaching experience.
It was an offseason with dramatic coaching changes in the WNBA.
Tanisha Wright is one of six head coaches fired this offseason and the second to accept an assistant coaching position elsewhere in the league. The other is Eric Thibault, an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx under Sheryl Reeve.
Additionally, Kurt Miller, who was fired as the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks, will become the head coach of the Dallas Wings.
Fired other head coaches — Latricia Trammell (Dallas Wings), Christy Sides (Indiana Fever), and Teresa Weatherspoon (Chicago Sky) have yet to publicly accept their new positions in the WNBA.
In the meantime, Weatherspoon will coach in the new 3-on-3 women's professional basketball league, Unrivaled, which tips off in Miami on Jan. 17, but has not ruled out a return to the WNBA.
