Seattle Storm coach Dan Hughes, a WNBA champion and two-time Coach of the Year, announced his retirement on Sunday.
Hughes, 66, spent more than two decades coaching the WNBA with previous stints in Charlotte, Cleveland and San Antonio. He led the Storm to the 2018 championship.
Noelle Quinn, who played for the Storm in 2016-18 and has been an assistant on staff since 2019, will take over as coach, and she will inherit a team that is 5-1. On Tuesday, Seattle will take on the Indiana Fever.
In a statement, Hughes said he’s “excited to hand the reins to Noelle.”
“After over 40 years of coaching basketball, I want to finish my career with the focus and determination with which I started,” Hughes said. “The Seattle Storm is in amazing shape, after two championships and a terrific playoff run in 2019, I would like to announce my retirement from the WNBA. I believe now is the right time because the team is performing well, but the rigors of being a head coach in the WNBA have taken their toll on me. I look forward to coaching with USA Basketball at the 2021 Olympics then leveraging my experience to give back to the game in other ways.”
Hughes ends his career with the second-most games coached in WNBA history (598), and tied for third in wins (286).
