Names & Faces: Lyndsay Whalen, Steve Gleason

Lyndsay Whalen

The 13-year WNBA veteran was named the women’s basketball head coach at Minnesota, her alma mater, on Thursday — and she will continue to play for the WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx. Whalen said becoming coach and being a Gopher again “is a dream come true.” Whalen is able to make her double duty work because the WNBA regular season begins in early May and runs through mid-August. The Gophers won’t open their season until October. The Hutchinson, Minn., native is Minnesota’s all-time points leader and led the Gophers to the only Final Four in program history in 2004.