Head coach for the Minnesota Lynx Cheryl Reeve announced Saturday that former Gophers women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Whalen will join the Lynx as an assistant coach.
Whalen’s new job with the Lynx will be her first WNBA coaching job. She joins Reeve’s staff alongside former Washington Mystics head coach Eric Thibault, who will join the team as an associate head coach. Reeve’s additions to her staff come after the Lynx fell to the New York Liberty in overtime of game five during the 2024 WNBA championship.
“Lindsay adds a unique perspective as a Lynx legend and Naismith Hall of Famer,” Reeve said in a press release. “I look forward to working with both in our quest for another WNBA Championship.”
Reeve selected Thibault to replace now-former associate head coach Katie Smith, who left the Lynx to take on an assistant coaching position at her alma mater, Ohio State. Whalen will work alongside current assistant coach Rebekkah Lamar Brunson.
Whalen returns to coaching after unexpectedly stepping down as head coach for the Gophers in March 2023.
Whalen played for the Gophers from 2000-2004 before she was drafted fourth overall by the Connecticut Sun in the 2004 WNBA draft. Whalen spent six years with the Sun before she was traded to the Lynx where she led the team to four WNBA championships in nine seasons.
“I couldn’t imagine joining a better staff as I return to coaching and get my first opportunity to coach in the WNBA,” Whalen said in a press release. “We have a special group with this team and I can’t wait to get to work.”
Whalen earned an Olympic gold medal with Team USA at the London 2012 Olympics and Rio 2016 with Reeve as an assistant coach. The Gophers and the Lynx hang Whalen’s No. 13 from the rafters.
