Longtime assistant has had success at WNBA and NCAA Division I levels
The Dallas Wings hired Chris Koclanes on Monday as their new head coach, the franchise’s fifth since moving to Dallas in 2016. Koclanes, an assistant at the University of Southern California on Lindsay Gottlieb’s staff, will be a head coach for the first time in his career in Dallas.
The hire signifies first-year Wings general manager Curt Miller’s mark on the team as he and Koclanes have deep ties, with Koclanes serving as an assistant on Miller’s coaching staffs with the Connecticut Sun from 2019-2022 and the Los Angeles Sparks in 2023. Prior to his promotion to Miller’s staff with the Sun, Koclanes worked for the team as a video coordinator from 2016-2018.
At USC, Koclanes has been known for his emphasis on defense, with the fourth-ranked Trojans allowing only 52.1 points per game. Koclanes’ tenure has accompanied a resurgence for the program, which last season advanced to its first Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1994. At the professional level, the Sparks team he served on led the league in steals and opponent turnovers, and Miller’s Sun teams were particularly stingy on their way to a pair of WNBA Finals appearances in 2019 and 2022. Several players and coaching peers responded to the Wings’ announcement by attesting to Koclanes’ reputation as a high-character coach with a talent for player development.
Koclanes was chosen to steer the Wings through what is expected to be a turning point for the franchise, with the club owning the No. 1 selection in the 2025 WNBA draft and preparing to move its games from Arlington to Dallas in 2026. He and the presumed top pick, University of Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers, crossed paths Saturday as USC and star guard JuJu Watkins beat UConn 72-70 in a matchup of top-ten teams.
Hired after the coaching vacancy was open for two months, Koclanes is the second consecutive defensive-minded Wings head coach. Latricia Trammel, who was dismissed after a disappointing 9-31 campaign in 2024, revitalized the defense upon her arrival in 2023, leading the Wings to the second round of the playoffs on the strength of improving their defensive rating to 105.8. One major reason for the team’s struggles in 2024 was an inability to get stops, languishing to a league-worst 114.0 defensive rating.
The team will hold a press conference to introduce Koclanes Jan. 9 at Reunion Tower.