Around the Sun

The Connecticut Sun Press ‘Reset’

By Anthony Price 

L-R, Aneesah Morrow, Saniya Rivers, Connecticut Sun GM Morgan Tuck. Photo: Connecticut Sun

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​Spring is a season of renewal, not just for trees, plants and flowers soaking up rain and reaching for the sun’s life-giving rays, but also for WNBA executives chasing the dream of a championship. 
 
In Connecticut, that dream is being reimagined. The Sun have a tough question to answer: Can they still win after overhauling their front office, hiring a new head coach, and losing five starters from a 28-win team that made a deep playoff run? 

The bar hasn’t changed. Winning is the standard. Since 2016, the Sun have had only two losing seasons--one of them during the COVID-19-disrupted 2020 campaign. They are a staple of the postseason and a model of consistency. Yet despite four Finals appearances in 2004, 2005, 2019 and 2022, the title remains elusive. 
 
UConn Husky legend Jennifer Rizzotti, who was hired in April 2021 as the team’s president, has done a superb job of keeping the team on the winning path. She is all in—like the grit she emanated at UConn, winning the program’s first NCAA championship in 1995. 

​The Sun Sets
 
Last fall, the Connecticut Sun lost in the semifinals to the Minnesota Lynx in game five of a best-of-five series, 88-77 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Lynx know how to win, having won four championships since their founding in 1999—former UConn great Maya Moore was a part of those championships.  
 
The Sun’s pursuit of a championship was over, back to the trend since 2003 when the Orlando Miracle franchise was acquired and relocated to Uncasville, Connecticut. 
 
The typical consolation retort, “We will be back next year,” was absent. Not only did the team lose the series, but they also lost five starters in the offseason to free agency and trades: DiJonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris, DeWanna Bonner, Brionna Jones and Alyssa Thomas. 
 
Former coach Stephanie White left to coach the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark. GM Taylor transitioned into a new role as Chief Basketball Strategist and Director of Scouting. 

Aneesah Morrow and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert

So, it's hard not to think about our potential.

Press Conference 
 
​The Sun’s new GM, Morgan Tuck, sat motionless at a long table, ready to address the media. Her smile masked the stress that comes with the job. 
 
Tuck was hired as the Sun’s director of franchise development in May 2021. And if job titles were raised like championship trophies at UConn—where she won four and amassed a staggering 151-5 record—then her rise through the organization has been nothing short of meteoric. She became assistant general manager in November 2022 and was named GM in December 2024. 
 
This press conference, held the day after the WNBA draft--Tuck’s first as GM--drew a full room: reporters, Mohegan Tribe staff (the owners of the Sun), coaches and front office executives. Also in attendance was veteran guard Marina Mabrey, who was acquired last July, after then-GM Darius Taylor orchestrated a trade with the Chicago Sky. 
 
At 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15, Morgan was ready. With a cue from the Director of Brand Development and Communications, Alexandra Maund, Morgan addressed the room. In her opening statement, Morgan used the word “reset” to refer to the change the franchise is going through and stated that “It was quite the offseason. I will say that.” 
 
She saw it as “a great opportunity for us to kind of reset in a few different ways,” in terms of the players, staff and organization. “So, it's hard not to think about our potential, and where we can reach,” she stated confidently, “and what we can build here in Connecticut.” 

In the age of computers, 'reset' carries a refined tone—unlike 'overhaul' or 'rebuild,' which suggest chaos and unpredictability at best.
 
“And obviously, I get to be here today with two of our key pieces to our future,” referencing Louisiana State University forward Aneesah Morrow and North Carolina State guard Saniya Rivers, who sat to her right, the Sun’s seventh and eighth draft picks in the 2025 draft.

L-R, Morgan Tuck, GM; Rachid Mezaine, Head Coach and Jennifer Rizzotti, President. Photo: Connecticut Sun

In the age of computers, 'reset' carries a refined tone—unlike 'overhaul' or 'rebuild,' which suggest chaos and unpredictability at best.

​(University of Southern California forward Rayah Marshall, who was selected by the Sun with the 25th pick in the second round, did not attend.)
 
Morrow and Rivers’ young faces glowed as if their futures were preordained for greatness—although they still have to make the team. While this day was about the future, team owners, sponsors and fans were focused on the present. 
 
New Sun head coach Rachid Mezaine, the franchise’s seventh coach, from Clermont-Ferrand, France, watched with satisfaction.
 
This draft was the first time in nine years that the Sun had multiple picks. A fact that Tuck knew well because she was selected number three overall by the Sun in 2016—fresh off her championship at UConn. 
 
That year, the Sun drafted players at 3, 4, 6, 17 and 27. Under first-time new coach Curt Miller, the team went 14-20 and did not qualify for the playoffs. 
 
“It feels a little familiar to me that we're sitting here in the situation that we're in,” Morgan says, using foreshadowing like a best-selling author. “And I think in 2016, there was some uncertainty, too.” 

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and Saniya Rivers

The only thing brighter than Rivers’ red hair is her personality. 

​The “Tuck” Era 
 
Tuck completed her remarks in under three minutes and opened the press conference to questions. 
 
Morrow, an undersized forward at 6-foot-1, completed her college career with 1,741 rebounds, third all-time in NCAA Division 1, and her 104 double-doubles are second all-time. She scored 2,852 points. 
 
The only thing brighter than Rivers’ red hair is her personality. She should be a fan favorite. 
 
Rivers scored 1,179 points, 648 rebounds, and had 202 steals in college. At 6-foot-1, Rivers will bring defense, rebounding from the guard position, and the ability to score in double figures. 
 
When Rivers was asked who she was looking forward to playing against, she said Caitlin Clark. “I wanna be the player that maybe tries my best to shut down the best players every night. So, she's definitely one of the ones on that team!” 
 
The Sun open the regular season at home on Sunday, May 18, against the Washington Mystics, a 14-win team that missed the playoffs last year. 
 
A new era has begun in Connecticut, with Morgan Tuck at the helm and Jen Rizzotti by her side. 
 
A new GM.  A new coach. Five new starters. The reset is complete. Will the winning tradition continue? We’ll have our answer by summer.  

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Anthony Price is an entrepreneur, author and publisher of CT Hoops Magazine. Around the Sun is a weekly column about the Connecticut Sun.