Sophie Cunningham came out with some controversial comments, speaking against transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. Her Indiana Fever head coach, Stephanie White, does not share Cunningham’s opinion, admitting to “frustration” stemming from her player’s comments.
Now another Indiana icon is speaking up, and he’s taking Cunningham’s side on this one.
Dan Dakich Calls White’s Take ‘Very, Very Dumb’
Naturally, when such a controversial topic is broached, there will always be people who don’t agree. That doesn’t necessarily mean one side is wrong or right, just that there are differing opinions.
Though, in this case, former Indiana Hoosiers basketball coach Dan Dakich believes White is in the wrong. In fact, he took to X, where he’s amassed over 8,700 followers, to say that White is “very, very dumb” for taking the stance that she took. But that’s not all.
“When did it happen?” Dakich asked. “When did being gay get overtaken by the whole transgender thing? When did that happen? Stephanie White’s gay, good for her. Live your best life. Who cares? She’s not strong enough. She doesn’t have enough integrity. She’s fearful of her job, fearful of protest by simply saying something that 80% of the country, and probably the world, probably 90% of the world, knows boys shouldn’t play against girls.”
Meanwhile, Dakich claims to have a “solution.” Whether everyone agrees with it is another story for another day, but here’s his idea.
“Now, I have a solution,” Dakich offered. “If you’re transitioning from girl to boy or boy to girl, both of them. You play with the boys, simple. Right now, you’re playing with the girls. But besides that, when did the whole gay pride gay thing get hijacked by the crazy-ass transgender movement?”
Then, Dakich goes on to say that White is “not a dumb girl.” But that was a backhanded compliment, because he later suggests that White should realize that if she was forced to compete with boys, then she may have never made it to the WNBA.
“Stephanie White’s afraid,” Dakich argued. “She’s not a dumb girl, and she has to know at her little high school in rural Indiana with about 5-600 kids, nobody would have ever heard of Stephanie White, the All-American, the Purdue player, Miss Basketball, if boys were allowed to play with her. She would have been on the team, probably because of small school. She’s probably a good athlete, but wouldn’t have played a lot. And she knows that, she’s not stupid, although, she’s coming off, very, very dumb.”
That’s a tough one to come back from, yet Dakich’s criticism of White continued, suggesting the Fever’s head coach has a “lack of character,” among other things.
“She has shown herself not to be a leader,” Dakich continued. “She’s shown herself to not protect her players. She’s shown herself to, quite frankly, have a lack of integrity, a lack of confidence, and a lack of character. And that’s sad because she’s a nice little girl. She is. She’s really nice and people have given her great jobs. But damn, at some point, you got to stand up. When did this whole thing get hijacked?”
“Nobody would’ve ever heard of Stephanie White if boys were allowed to compete against her.”@dandakich rips the Fever coach for refusing to say what he believes is obvious: men shouldn’t compete in women’s sports. pic.twitter.com/ApvD6ePVEW
— Don’t @ Me (@DontAtMeDD) August 1, 2026
White has taken a lot of heat for not finding a way to “protect her players” like Caitlin Clark, who routinely takes a physical beating without getting the foul call. Yet, this is an entirely separate issue. Still, it’s clear that Dakich isn’t a big fan of White.
