Courtney Vandersloot is coming back to the Sky next season. And, for now, so are the two men steering the ship.
After finishing at the bottom of the standings, the franchise still hasn’t explained how they plan to climb back into the playoff picture or attract top free agents. General manager Jeff Pagliocca didn’t offer much of a blueprint beyond saying the team remains in “win-now” mode.
One certainty did emerge from exit interviews: Vandersloot will return.
“If she’s healthy she’s going to be playing basketball here,” Pagliocca said.
Vandersloot, the league’s second all-time leader in assists, tore her ACL just seven games into the season. The gap at point guard haunted the Sky all year — both backups battled injuries — and both Pagliocca and coach Tyler Marsh pointed to her absence as the factor that derailed their plans.
“We never got to really see the full scope of her integrated into what we’re trying to build here,” Marsh told the Sun-Times.
Vandersloot previewed her return in a recent television interview, saying she’s working on a comeback and that her “age is not a factor.”
Pagliocca echoed that confidence.
“I think she’s more fired up than ever to prove the world wrong about who she is and what she’s capable of,” he said.
Her age did come up in a recent interview with teammate Angel Reese, who questioned the wisdom of building around a 36-year-old returning from an ACL tear. Reese was suspended for the comments and later apologized, but the concern is straightforward. If Vandersloot follows a standard 12-month recovery, she wouldn’t return until June, after training camp opens in April.
Even Pagliocca acknowledged the Sky will need more depth at the point guard position.
“We know that [Vandersloot] is not going to be playing 38 minutes a game,” he said. “We’re going to need somebody to be here and be capable of playing that position if she’s not ready.”
Marsh and Pagliocca also appear set to return next season. Pagliocca said he has “full support” from ownership and called Marsh “the right man for the job.” Marsh has not yet had his review, but told the Sun-Times he hopes to be back.
Last year, the Sky fired first-year coach Teresa Weatherspoon a week after the season ended. Marsh appears safer.
Players credited his steadiness through a difficult season and called him one of the smartest when it comes to “X’s and O’s.”
Though Marsh was not immune from outside criticism — no coach of a 10-34 team is — most of the heat landed on Pagliocca.
During the team’s final home game, fans chanted “Fire Jeff” as the Sky lost their 34th game.
“Hearing those things is not ideal,” Pagliocca said. “I pour my heart and soul into this job. I lose sleep over the losing. If anyone’s going to take the bullets I’d rather be me over our head coach or our players.”
Players said the chants and season-long criticism became a distraction. Marsh added that one thing he learned about his general manager was Pagliocca’s willingness to absorb it.
“He takes that for the organization and he takes it for the players,” Marsh said.
The biggest open question remains around Reese, their frachise player. Pagliocca said they are communicating daily and that the front office is operating as though she is returning.
We’ll see if Reese says the same.
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