The Chicago Sky announced on Saturday the hiring of a new assistant head coach to join Tyler Marsh’s staff, and it’s a familiar name: Tanisha Wright. Wright was the head coach of the Atlanta Dream from 2021 to 2024 before being dismissed in early October. She was replaced by long-time FGCU head coach Karl Smesko.
Recently-fired WNBA head coach will coach Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso in Chicago
Tanisha Wright, formerly the head coach of the Atlanta Dream, joins Tyler Marsh’s Chicago Sky coaching staff.
Photo by Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
Wright will help bolster an organization that is largely centered around Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso, the Sky’s first-round draft picks in 2024.
Before coaching, Wright played in the WNBA for 14 seasons, 10 of which were with the Seattle Storm. She was an elite defender — and was named to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team five times and the All-Defensive Second Team twice.
“Tanisha has built an outstanding resume as a player and coach in the WNBA with more than a decade of experience,” Marsh said, per the team’s official press release. “With a long history of accomplishment and player development, she will help us to build a winning culture at the Sky.”
Previously, the team announced former WNBA player Courtney Paris would be one of Marsh’s assistant coaches. Paris most recently worked as an assistant coach for the Dallas Wings, under Latricia Trammell.
Notably, Marsh’s first two assistant coach hires are both former WNBA standouts with coaching experience.
It’s been an offseason of dramatic coaching turnover in the WNBA
Tanisha Wright was one of six head coaches who were fired this past offseason — and is the second to accept an assistant coaching position elsewhere in the league. The other is Eric Thibault, who will serve as an assistant coach on the Minnesota Lynx under Cheryl Reeve.
Additionally, Curt Miller, who was dismissed from his role as head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks, will serve as head coach of the Dallas Wings.
The other fired head coaches — Latricia Trammell (Dallas Wings), Christie Sides (Indiana Fever), and Teresa Weatherspoon (Chicago Sky) — have yet to publicly accept new positions in the WNBA.
In the meantime, Weatherspoon will be coaching in Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 professional women’s basketball league that will tip-off in Miami on Jan. 17th and hasn’t ruled out a return to the WNBA.
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