NEW YORK — Minnesota Lynx assistant coach Walt Hopkins will be hired as the next head coach of the New York Liberty, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Hopkins has been an assistant for the Lynx for since 2017. New York has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at Barclays Center, where the team will play its home games this season.
The Liberty fired previous coach Katie Smith in October, after the season ended. The team has the first pick in the WNBA draft in April and most likely will select Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu.
This will be the first coaching hire for the Liberty under owner Joe Tsai’s group, which bought the team last year. Tsai also owns the Brooklyn Nets.
Before his time at Minnesota, Hopkins was the academic coach at Cal. He previously was director of basketball operations and player development for the Tulsa Shock.
ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.