Lynne Roberts leaves Utah to become Los Angeles Sparks head coach
In a stunning move, the Sparks tap Utah Utes head coach Lynne Roberts to take over Los Angeles' WNBA franchise.
The WNBA coaching carousel keeps on spinning. On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Sparks announced that Lynne Roberts, currently leading the Utah Utes, would be the next head coach of the franchise. Here’s what it means for U of U, the Sparks and some thoughts from your resident Pac-12 guy…
What does it mean for Los Angeles?
In short, the Sparks are moving into a more analytically driven era. Roberts’ Utah teams of the last two seasons leaned hard into ‘threes and layups’, utilizing Alissa Pili on the low block and a bevy of perimeter shooters to overwhelm opponents. Overall, it worked pretty well. If not for a couple of missed free throws in the spring of 2023, the Utes might have been in the Final Four instead of Kim Mulkey and Angel Reese’s LSU. 2024 was a bit of a lost season as star guard Gianna Kneepkens suffered a catastrophic knee injury that derailed what likely would’ve been another 25+ win season. Even with that loss, they still managed to finish in the top 25 with a 23-11 record and an NCAA Tournament berth.
What’s important for Sparks fans to know is that Roberts is a builder who has experienced high points at every stop as a head coach. Whether it was Chico State, where the Wildcats went 28-4 in her fourth year and made it to the DII Final Four, or Pacific, where the Tigers achieved a high mark of 27-8 and a Big West title, Roberts has proven herself to a be a high floor, high ceiling coach at multiple levels.
What will be interesting is whether or not she will find the lead guard she needs to make her system work. Cam Brink can absolutely play the Alissa Pili role, believe it or not. Seeing the Sparks rookie center marry her offensive post game with an expanded jumper range primes her well to be that central focal point. Rickea Jackson will benefit immensely but the question is who will be the maestro? And it also introduces another question: does L.A. make a move to reunite Lynx rookie Alissa Pili with her college coach that unlocked her talent?
League wide, it signals a turn into a more analytical, ‘Morey-ball’ driven ethos. I’m not sure if that’s entirely a good thing, given how the mid-range game is one of the things that makes the W enjoyable and unique to the men’s game. But it shows that there is a clear push to move into a new era and get fresh faces in the game.
What does it mean for Utah?
Well, it sucks. Can’t get around that. It was a bummer to see Karl Smesko leave Florida Gulf Coast after two games and it stinks to see the same here. I feel particularly for Gianna Kneepkens, who comes back from injury this year just to end up in something of a transition season.
There is a degree of continuity as Gavin Petersen, Roberts’ long time assistant coach, takes over. He has been on staff since 2015-2016 and has been instrumental in working with the post players, Pili in particular. Petersen is also credited with working with the guards during the 2021-2022 season, developing Dru Gylten who was one of the top passers in the Pac-12 that season.
It can be fairly argued that this was kind of a bridge year in Salt Lake anyway. Maya Toure, a transfer from Rhode Island, is coming along nicely but this isn’t the roster that they had in 2023. Alissa Pili is a one-of-a-kind college player and that isn’t easily replicable in one year. What will be a question is whether or not the team rallies around Petersen and an interim staff or falters without Roberts to lead them.
Some thoughts from a long time Pac-12 beat reporter…
Lynne Roberts was easily one of my favorite coaches on the Pac-12 beat. She was always patient, kind and introspective in press conferences. Among her peers in the conference, I never heard a negative word said about her or the program she ran.
Over the years I was impressed with how she retooled her team after the Pandemic season, one in which the Utes went 5-16 and there was a real question of if the bottom was falling out on an otherwise average tenure. But she pulled a really good assistant coach in Jerise Freeman (who is now at Oregon, it should be noted) who helped reinvigorate their recruiting and transfer effort.
Kneepkens came in as a true freshman and then Pili was a total restoration project. Folks might not remember but the forward was a generally a fun player on an underachieving USC team coached by Mark Trakh. She arrived in Salt Lake and immediately looked like a totally different player. I bring up those two players because it speaks to Roberts ability to maximize talent on both ends: as a long term recruiter and as a portal puller. That’s going to matter at the next level. Her calm demeanor feels like it’ll fit in well with professionals but there’s plenty of fire and intensity that you’ll see in game.
How she builds her staff and what the team decides to do with the second pick of the draft is going to be fascinating. Kneepkens is a college player built in the mold of a Paige Bueckers and I’m wondering now if there was a hope that she’d be walking into a situation with a first overall pick in hand. But with that said, there’s plenty of really good backcourt options to choose from. Like Karl Smesko, this is a bit of a speculative hire for Los Angeles but if there were ever a time to take a swing, it’s now.
More than anything, Roberts coaches an engaging, exciting and high scoring style of basketball. In a Showtime town, that’s bound to turn some heads.