By Wheat Hotchkiss | FeverBasketball.com

There’s a different feel to Indiana Fever training camp this season.

A new coaching staff and significant roster overhaul over the offseason have led to heightened expectations for the Fever in 2025. Indiana returns just five players from last year’s roster, but that figure includes three All-Stars in Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, and Caitlin Clark, the latter two being the WNBA’s two most recent Rookie of the Year winners.

The Fever have added a number of decorated veterans with championship-level experience to that existing core, players like DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, Sydney Colson, and Sophie Cunningham.

And Stephanie White is back as head coach of the Fever, a franchise she once played for and helped lead to a WNBA title in 2012 as an assistant and the 2015 WNBA Finals as head coach. White’s staff includes Briann January, who played in three WNBA Finals for the Fever as a player, and Karima Christmas-Kelly, another member of the 2012 championship team.

Adding all that championship experience to the existing talent means Indiana enters the 2025 season with real aspirations for a deep playoff run, a far cry from a year ago when the Fever were just trying to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Just two days into training camp, the Fever are still trying to feel each other out, but the level of talent in the gym is readily apparent.

“As far as the teams that I’ve coached in the W, it’s the deepest, most talented roster I’ve been a part of,” White said following Tuesday’s practice. “…You look at the depth of this roster and the opportunity to play with a lot of different lineups and in a lot of different ways.”

But even with all that talent, the Fever know they need to work hard in camp and throughout the season to reach to the level it appears they could on paper.

“Everybody knows we have so much talent, but at the same time, you’ve got to put that together,” Clark said. “It’s not going to be like, alright, you have all these great players, you step out on the court, it’s going to work. It’s going to take a little bit of time to figure things out, figure out how everybody works with one another.”

A key word early in camp has been “grace,” with White stressing the importance of holding each other accountable, but also knowing that it takes time to get to know new teammates, a new staff, a new system and embracing the uncomfortable feelings associated with all of those variables.

“We don’t expect perfection right now, but we do expect discipline and hard work,” Mitchell added.

After one of the most decorated and discussed rookie seasons in WNBA history, Clark enters her sophomore season feeling both refreshed and stronger. After playing for essentially a year straight from the start of her senior season at Iowa through the WNBA playoffs last fall, Clark enjoyed having a lengthy offseason. She spent a lot of time in the gym and the weight room, but also took some time for herself to just be a normal 23-year-old, spending time with friends and family, including a recent trip to the Masters, her first-ever visit to the storied golf tournament.

“It was nice to get away from everything and just enjoy my life as a normal person,” Clark said. “…Don’t get me wrong, I love basketball and having the spotlight and playing with my teammates, that’s one of the most fun things in the world. But at some point, we had a great year and eventually getting away from that was really healthy for me.

“But it came to a point where I was itching to get back in here after like a month. So I’m happy to be back.”

Both Mitchell and White have noticed how much stronger Clark has gotten over the offseason to be better prepared for the physicality of WNBA defenses.

“It seems small, but it’s going to make her go from having 25 (points) to having 28 or 10 assists to 12 assists,” Mitchell said.

Bringing in so many decorated veterans, the Fever also know that everyone will need to make individual sacrifices out of greater interest for team success. The entire projected starting five of Clark, Mitchell, Bonner, Howard, and Boston has been an All-Star before. But they have bigger goals than that in mind.

“When you win, that’s what’s fun,” Clark said. “Nobody cares about their personal stats. Nobody cares about how many points you scored, how many rebounds you had, how many minutes you played. Everybody’s going to have to give a little bit, but that’s what it takes to win. And Steph has preached that since she got here to Indy.”