INDIANAPOLIS — After some Indiana Fever rookies and less experienced players went through drills early in practice on Sunday, most of the core rotation took their place on the court. After a quick huddle, they popped right into defensive drills, cheering loudly for each other after strong reps.
It was just a five-minute glimpse into Day 1 of the Fever’s 2026 campaign. But it showed what the group hopes can happen this year — more stops, more rebounds, and more pace.
“We’ll look a little bit different just because of our personnel. We have a little bit more size. I think we’ll be able to do some more things on the defensive end of the floor,” head coach Stephanie White said of her 2026 group before her team hit the floor. “I think we’ll hopefully be a better rebounding team as well, and that’ll allow us to play a little bit more in transition.”
Due to the Fever’s injury-related personnel changes last season and their limited number of available players every night, their pace was slower than they hoped it would be. White hopes they can speed up. “We want to play faster,” she said. “We want to be a bear on the defensive end of the floor. We want to be in the top three in the league on defense, and we want to play with more pace.”
The plan is for their new look to blend with their existing talents. Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell are masters in the open floor and naturally play a very fast game. Aliyah Boston is a great defensive player with experience at every tempo. Ditto for Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham, and those five returnees project to be a significant part of the team’s rotation.
Newcomers Monique Billings, Tyasha Harris, and Myisha Hines-Allen will also be a part of that mix. Billings is the team’s highest-profile addition, and Boston loves how she fits into the frontcourt group, specifically pointing to her rebounding and ability to run the floor. That fits into the on-court vision well.
So does Harris’ and Hines-Allen’s defensive prowess, plus the latter’s rebounding. It’s early in the campaign, but it’s clear from White’s words and the front office’s action what the Indiana Fever hope to look like on the hardwood.
“I feel like our roster construction is great,” Clark said before noting her belief that the group has an opportunity to make another deep postseason run.
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This week will give the Fever a chance to practice what they preach and start setting their style. They have a road preseason game in just six days. If the team wants to make the run they believe is possible, it starts now. White, who has guided one team to the WNBA Finals and three more to the Semifinals, knows that well.
“You have to take it one day at a time,” she said. “We can’t talk about September or October if we don’t take care of April and May. So we’ve got to take it one step at a time.”
The injury updates from day one of Fever training camp
Damiris Dantas was not present at day one of Fever training due to, per Chloe Peterson of the Indianapolis Star, visa-related delays. Outside of Dantas, the other 15 players on Indiana’s roster were present and healthy on day one of training camp. A good sign after how last season ended, and after news arrived in the offseason.
All of Clark, Cunningham, and Dantas were injured during the Fever’s final game of 2025 — a Game 5 loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the Semifinals. Late in that game, Mitchell tumbled to the floor and had to be taken to the hospital due to rhabdomyolysis, an injury that she believed was a result of overuse.
Clark returned to the floor for Team USA during the offseason, and she’s still good to go now with camp underway. “I feel really healthy. I feel like I put myself in position to be as healthy as I can to start the season,” she said.
Clark explained that she doesn’t ever want to sit out a single rep or miss any game time. Her extended absence last season due to groin and ankle injuries was mentally challenging in that way. But she gained a new perspective about being smarter with her body and the importance of both pre-court time treatment and post-practice recovery.
“I’m 100% cleared. I’m 100% go,” Clark said. But she knows there’s more to it than that. “I think it’s just being smart. No need to overdo it at this point.”
After Clark’s injury and Mitchell’s heavy usage, the Fever brought in more guard depth for training camp this season. And it’s White’s job to manage everyone and make sure the long-term health goals are prioritized. “She doesn’t have to be out there every rep, just being mindful of reps. I think every year that she gets older, too, she understands the cadence is a little bit different,” White said of Clark. “I think with her, with Kelsey, with AB, with all of them, just be mindful of getting them in and out. And we need to get other people integrated anyway, so I think it’ll give us a good opportunity to do that.”
And regarding Mitchell, White knows that having depth and more numbers will matter for her usage. The hope is that depth will keep minutes down for everyone across the board. “Everybody wants to play. But having a true cadence and a true rotation is going to be really important for us.”
Boston had an injury note in the offseason, too. She missed Team USA’s World Cup qualifying play thanks to a right lower extremity injury suffered during Unrivaled, but she was seen walking without issue at an Indiana Pacers game a few weeks later. She’s healthy now, though Boston provided few specifics about the injury. “I just had a lower leg injury, and right now I’m feeling good to go,” Boston said. “Ready to get to work.”
Clark, Mitchell and Boston have all been named to All-WNBA teams in the last two seasons. Having them healthy for the playoffs this year is critical to the success of the Indiana Fever.
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New additions on site
Boston’s praise of Billings was noteworthy since the Fever’s star center has had a different frontcourt partner in each of her last three seasons — NaLyssa Smith in 2024, Natasha Howard in 2025, and now presumably Billings. Others offered their analysis on how the veteran frontcourt player can add to what the Fever do.
“[Billings] is an elite communicator. She’s an elite communicator on the defensive end of the floor. There shouldn’t be mistakes in coverages because she’s talking about it,” White said. “She’s a really good defender, active, aggressive. She’s a hard rim runner. She’s a hard roller out of ball screens. She’s a terrific rebounder. And she’s a bright personality. She brings a lot of energy… I thought her and Caitlin had really good chemistry at USA as well.”
Harris and Raven Johnson, two new additions in the backcourt, both played with Boston at South Carolina at different times. The star center knows them well and what they can bring to the team. “It’s just super exciting,” Boston said of having them. “I think they’re just gonna bring that hard work. I think we’ve all seen Raven, the way she’s been performing in her last year. And then Ty, just her experience. She’s played under coach Steph before, so I’m just super excited to have her here.”
Those two players, thanks to their defensive prowess, project to pair well with either Clark or Mitchell in the backcourt when the Fever go to the bench. That depth will be important when it comes to managing minutes this season.
Speaking of Clark, she likes the roster and gave her front office, guided by President Kelly Krauskopf and General Manager Amber Cox, credit for building a team in such a condensed timeframe. That roster has now embarked on its 2026 journey, one that will come with high expectations. Meeting them will be challenging, but doable.
“We know we’ve got a lot of new faces that we have to get into how we want to play, and we’ve got to make sure we’re building our chemistry, building our camaraderie,” White said. That’s what training camp is all about.
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