Briann January Reflects on First Season as WNBA Coach: ‘Every Night, You’re Going Out to Compete’

When 14-year WNBA veteran Briann January was approached by first-year Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White about joining her staff, the decision was a “no-brainer.” 

“I wanted to play this game forever, but you know, Father Time is undefeated,” January told The Messenger. “But once I dove in and kind of embraced this new challenge and took it all in, I just kind of ran with it.” 

January, a prolific guard who retired after the 2022 WNBA season, spent nine years with the Indiana Fever before closing out her career with short stints in Phoenix, Connecticut and Seattle. White coached January during that span with the Fever: four years as an assistant (which included the franchise’s WNBA title win in 2012) and two as a head coach. 

January, who got her first coaching experience working at her alma mater Arizona State University, as well as Adelphi University, said it was a smooth transition from playing in the W to working on the sidelines. 

“The familiarity really helped me. Knowing the style of play, knowing how the team operated, knowing how to communicate with the players because I played with them. I think that was a really nice leg up going into a situation, especially as a coach and implementing a new system,” January said. 

The 2023 WNBA season was a triumph for teams coached by former players. Not only did White lead the Sun to a third-place regular season finish and the franchise’s seventh straight semifinal appearance, but this year’s WNBA Finals marked the first time in league history that two former players served as head coaches, with Sandy Brondello and Becky Hammon going head-to-head on the sidelines. 

And the success of former players as WNBA coaches is no accident. The league has incentivized the practice; thanks to a 2020 rule change, teams are now allowed to have three paid assistants so long as at least one coach is a former WNBA player. 

And while the Chicago Sky’s recent hiring of Teresa Weatherspoon appeared to build on the trend, the Phoenix Mercury then caused a firestorm by hiring Nate Tibbetts and making him the highest-paid coach in WNBA history, despite him having no women’s basketball experience to date.

The Mercury didn’t help its case when its official announcement referred to Tibbetts as a “girl dad,” causing a collective eye roll amongst WNBA fans who know it takes more than just knowing women to lead a team of them.

The reaction to Tibbetts’ hiring is a mark of just how far the WNBA has come in a few short years. In 2020, only one team was led by a former WNBA player (Sandy Brondello, then with the Phoenix Mercury), compared to six head coaches as of this writing. The number of former players serving as assistants has also skyrocketed: from nine in 2019 to 22 in 2023. 

January credits the Sun front office and White’s experience as a former player with making her job as an assistant even easier. 

“Just the way that she develops relationships with her players, knows how to motivate her players, the way she thinks about the game," January said of White. 

"I really admired when I played for her, and thought ‘that’s how it’s supposed to be done."

While January said that she appreciated working with younger players at ASU and Adelphi, she added that college coaching came with lots of off-court assignments, like recruiting prospects, supervising players and organizing training sessions.

“It's a lot of guiding young women and helping them find themselves, find their path, find their purpose, find their passions, and set them on their right path,” she said. “With the W, you get to focus a little bit more on basketball.”

Still, coaching is as much of a grind as playing. “Every night, you're going out to compete,” January said. 

“There's going to be highs, there's gonna be lows, there's gonna be road bumps, but you have to continue to work and be around people that inspire you to work harder, that encourage you, who pick you up.”