‘I’m just going to be me’: New Seattle Storm coach Sonia Raman hopeful to get franchise on track

SEATTLE AP At the tail end of just her second day at the Seattle Storm practice facility newly hired Sonia Raman paused briefly Wednesday afternoon before addressing whether she was ready for her first head coaching gig in the WNBA I m just going to be me Raman disclosed I realize that it s a whole different level But I think just relying on who I am as a person being genuine being authentic and as they say keeping the main thing the main thing is majority of significant But who exactly is Raman The -year-old Massachusetts native started her coaching career at MIT where she was a head coach from - She led the school to the Division III NCAA Tournament twice and remains the winningest coach in campaign history Raman jumped to the pro ranks in to be an assistant with the NBA s Memphis Grizzlies for four years before joining the New York Liberty coaching staff this past season With the Storm Raman will make history as the first person of Indian descent to be a head coach in the WNBA It s a tremendous honor and privilege to be sitting here and to be in that role Raman noted It s a huge responsibility as well I ve announced this before I am the first but I don t want to be the last What Raman also wants is to help the Storm get back on track as a franchise Seattle fired previous coach Noelle Quinn in September after the Storm were eliminated by the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the playoffs for a second straight season The crew Raman will be coaching though very much remains in flux All-Stars Nneka Ogwumike Skylar Diggins Gabby Williams and Brittney Sykes are all set to be unrestricted free agents The Storm have just four players under contract for the season Raman is excited to collaborate with general manager Talisa Rhea to help chart a path forward for how the Storm can build around -year-old forward Dominique Malonga who was the No pick in the draft and a WNBA All-Rookie Group selection She s been doing this for a long time with the front office Raman reported of Rhea I m excited to learn from her as well I will certainly give ideas give thoughts have questions and I just think having that collaborative dialogue will get us to where we need to go Rhea meanwhile is confident she made the right hire in bringing aboard Raman as the ninth coach in franchise history It was clear from the first conversation we had with Sonia that there was real alignment Rhea reported and the prospective for a wonderful partnership What Raman aspires to do with the Storm is lean into her coaching strengths The former Tufts guard developed a reputation in the NBA for her scouting player expansion and analytics acumen At her core Raman noted she is a hoops junkie She has learned the importance of taking a holistic approach when it comes to coaching individual players as well as the company at large Use everything you have available to you It s Raman explained We have all the hardware in the world We have the information We have the film We have expert coaches Raman has yet to round out her coaching staff and did not provide a timetable for doing so She s also working on finding a house in the Seattle area Raman reported she intends to live in the Pacific Northwest full-time not just during the season In due time Raman will either prove herself ready or not to lead the Storm after three decades of coaching What is clear is Raman is grateful for the opportunity at hand This is a place that exudes excellence fosters collaboration Raman noted The care factor here is incredible AP WNBA https apnews com hub wnba-basketball Source