“Our team has been really good,” Tuck told reporters on Thursday. “It’s not a situation where, we feel like it’s time to start over and we have to just totally do things different. I think [Meziane will] be different. He’ll bring some different aspects, but I think at the same time, the goal is to keep us being really successful. His different perspective, his background, the international play, you always want to have someone that you know does understand the game, not just here, but internationally as well. I feel like we’ve been able to get that, and we’re just excited to kind of see how it all meshes together.”
Tuck was announced as Connecticut’s new GM on Tuesday. She replaces Darius Taylor who has stepped into the role as chief basketball strategist and director of scouting. The announcement for Meziane’s hire was released the next day.
“I am honored to represent a franchise like the Connecticut Sun, a team and organization with a rich history and a passionate fan base,” Meziane said in a press release on Wednesday. “I look forward to working with our talented roster and assembling a dedicated coaching staff, as we continue to build upon the Sun’s legacy and strive for a championship.”
Meziane, a Clermont-Ferrand, France native is the franchise’s seventh head coach. He has had success coaching women’s basketball in France and has served as the head coach for the Belgian Women’s National team since Nov. 2022.
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Meziane helped Belgium reach their first ever EuroBasket Gold Medal in 2023 after going undefeated (6-0 record) throughout the tournament. He also led Belgium to finish in fourth place at the 2024 Paris Olympics with WNBA players Emma Meesseman and Julie Vanloo.
Before he coached for Team Belgium, he served as an assistant coach for the French Women’s Basketball National Team (2014-2021), helping them win four silver medals at European Championships (2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021). He notably helped them win a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
While adding Meziane to the program represents a change, they still have the same goal of bringing home Connecticut’s first championship. Tuck told reporters about their thorough candidate search.
“It takes a lot of pieces, and I think the biggest piece is that you do your due diligence,” Tuck said. “You try to understand who they are, obviously, as a coach. That’s what the job is, but also as a person. And then you talk with other people, and see what feedback [they receive from others]. How is he in different situations? When we’ve all seen him coach, especially with the Belgium National Team in EuroLeague, we get a good feel, but a lot of it is, you have to do your research.
“You have to make sure that you get enough information to make an informed decision. For us, that’s kind of how we approached it. And then as we meet and we talk about the different opportunities, different options of what we’re looking for. With all of that, we felt we met the right fit going with Rachid.”
With free agency approaching, having a head coach that can be part of big roster decisions will be important in the weeks to come.
“You want to make decisions that your coach is comfortable with and that they give their input toward,” Tuck said. “They’re the ones that are going to be coaching the players, they make the decisions on the court. You have to have a lot of synergy. You don’t always have to agree 100%, but I think you have to kind of be on the same page of what you’re looking for, what you want, and so it’s really good, and it’s kind of a relief when you get your coach in place, and now you can get to the meat of the work that’s coming up.”
Something everyone has their eyes on when it comes to the Sun are their Big Three [forward Alyssa Thomas, forward/guard DeWanna Bonner and forward Brionna Jones] entering free agency.
When asked about free agency and adding a new coach beforehand, Tuck told reporters that reassurance and communication with the players is going to be important during this transitional period.
“I won’t say specifics, but we try to make sure that we have a good balance of keeping people informed,” Tuck said. “We understand that it’s a whole team of players that are going to have a new coach. Obviously, there’s sometimes a lot of uncertainty around change, and so I think a lot of it is just reassuring that change isn’t always a bad thing. It’s a little uneasy. It makes us all a little nervous, but we understand that’s just a part of the business and a part of being on a team.
“Luckily, we have very resilient players. We have players that have played for many different teams all over the world. It’s something that we just try to reassure them. … [We want them to] trust us for making the right decisions, but we always appreciate our players giving us feedback and want to make sure that not just them, but our whole organization feels good about it.”
Connecticut Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti welcomed Meziane to the franchise in Thursday’s press release.
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“Having had the privilege of coaching against Rachid in various FIBA competitions, I’ve witnessed firsthand his exceptional basketball IQ and his ability to prepare his teams to compete at the highest level in any situation,” Rizzotti said. “As we looked for a key differentiator to elevate Connecticut’s success and cultivate a championship mindset for the future, Rachid’s extensive experience and passion for the game stood out. We are thrilled to welcome him to the Connecticut Sun family.”
The front office will work with Meziane to continue building a winning culture in Connecticut when the 2025 season begins.
Meanwhile, Tuck will use her championship experience to drive her future success as a GM and looks to leave a lasting positive legacy on the franchise.
“Maybe because it’s my UConn at heart, winning championships is always success in my book,” she said. “I think that’s something that we always have to aspire to reach. Now, I think there’s other levels of success that’s not necessarily always winning championships. … We want to win championships. But for myself, looking at success, you want to leave a really positive impact and a legacy where you’ve impacted the people around you, whether that’s our players, whether that’s people in the office and just basketball in general.”
