The Indiana Fever will begin a search for their new head coach after announcing Wednesday they will not retain interim head coach Carlos Knox for the 2023 WNBA season.
"We thank Carlos for stepping into this role last season and for helping our young, talented team continue to improve," Fever interim general manager Lin Dunn said in a release. "We took important steps forward this year, but the expectation for this team and this franchise is sustained success on the court. We are working hard to build a coaching staff that will deliver on that expectation."
Knox had taken over from then-head coach Marianne Stanley, whom the team parted ways with midway through her third season at the helm in late May following a 2-7 start. The rookie-heavy Fever faltered during the end of the regular season, losing their final 18 games to finish 5-31 on the season and last in the WNBA standings.
Indiana has finished in the bottom two of the standings five of the past six years and last made the playoffs in 2016, WNBA legend Tamika Catchings' final year on the court prior to her retirement. Catchings then served as vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the team before stepping down from those roles in February.
Whoever takes the reins in Indianapolis has a young core of players to work with, including four top-10 picks from the 2022 draft -- NaLyssa Smith (No. 2), Emily Engstler (No. 4), Lexie Hull (No. 6) and Queen Egbo (No. 10) -- plus No. 20 overall pick Destanni Henderson as well as a 2023 lottery pick. Smith and Egbo were named to the WNBA all-rookie team earlier this month.
Aside from the Fever, the Los Angeles Sparks also announced they are searching for a new coach, after the midseason firing of Derek Fisher and the departure of interim head coach Fred Williams for an associate head-coaching role at Auburn.