Connecticut Sun head coach Rachid Meziane finalizes 2025 basketball support staff
Today, the Connecticut Sun’s Head Coach Rachid Meziane finalized the team’s support staff for the 2025 season. Meziane welcomes back Ryan Newton as Head Athletic Trainer and Physical Therapist, Jeanie Brookes as Assistant Athletic Trainer and Analisse Rios as Strength and Conditioning Coach.
New to the Sun sideline this season will be Chaz Franklin as Head of Player Development, Kevin Owens as Player Development Coach and Video Coordinator, Bak Sawi as Player Development Coach, Kristen Mann as Manager of Basketball Development, Kristina Beauchais as Manager of Basketball Operations, and Shavonte Zellous as Basketball Development Intern.
Franklin joins the Sun with over eight years of coaching experience, most recently serving as the Director of Player Development for the Marquette University Women’s Basketball program for the 2024-25 season. He has also served as the Director of Player Development for the Chicago Sky (2023-2024) and brings assistant coaching experience from his current stint with the New Zealand Women’s National Team (2024-present) and prior experience with Millersville University (2022-2023). Franklin, a native of Philadelphia, played professionally for 15 years, making stops in Germany, Iceland, Czech Republic, Venezuela and Finland.
Sawi and Owens will serve as Player Development Coaches under Franklin’s direction, with Owens also taking on Video Coordinator responsibilities. Sawi comes to Connecticut after most recently working as an Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Southern Coast Academy, a preparatory school located in Orlando, Florida, during the 2024-25 season. He has also made stops as an Assistant Coach and Player Development Coordinator at Cesar Chavez Public Charter School (Washington, D.C.) and Northern Virginia Community College (Annandale, VA).
Owens returns to the Connecticut Sun after serving as a Video Coordinator for the team during the 2023 season. The Texas native most recently worked with the Grand Rapids Gold, NBA G League Affiliate of the Denver Nuggets, as Video Coordinator and Assistant Coach for the 2024-25 season. Owens has also held positions with the Milwaukee Bucks, Maine Celtics, Texas Legends (NBA G League), the University of Dallas men’s basketball program and the USBA Chinese basketball school. He played basketball at Trinity University in San Antonio from 2015-2019, where he graduated with a double major in Marketing and Chinese Mandarin.
Mann enters the role of Manager of Basketball Development for the Sun after playing basketball professionally in the WNBA and overseas for almost 20 years. The California native was drafted 11th overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the 2005 WNBA Draft out of UC Santa Barbara, where she played from 2001-2005. Mann appeared in 130 contests throughout her career in the WNBA, making stops with the Minnesota Lynx (2005-2007, 2010), Atlanta Dream (2008), Indiana Fever (2008) and Washington Mystics (2009). She brings extensive overseas professional experience, playing in France, Latvia, Portugal, Turkey and Spain. Mann played her last season of basketball for French club, Tango Bourges Basket, during the 2023-2024 season, helping lead the team to a French Cup Championship.
Beauchais enters her first season as the Manager of Basketball Operations with the Sun after coaching basketball in Maine for over four years. She was the owner and operator of Maine Basketball Club, a training facility in Lewiston, Maine that served over 1,000 athletes and operated an AAU program of over 25+ teams. Beauchais also served as Assistant Coach and Skills Development Coordinator at Central Maine Community College (2020-2022) and Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Edward Little High School (2022-2024). She played basketball at the University of Southern Maine (2018-2020) and Central Maine Community College (2016-2018), earning her bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from USM.
Zellous joins the Sun coaching staff as Basketball Development Intern for the 2025 season, bringing an extensive WNBA and overseas professional basketball resume. Zellous was drafted 11th overall in the 2009 WNBA Draft by the Detroit Shock out of the University of Pittsburgh. The 5-10 guard played 12 seasons in the WNBA, playing for the Detroit Shock (2009), Tulsa Shock (2010), Indiana Fever (2010-2015), New York Liberty (2016-2018), Seattle Storm (2019) and Washington Mystics (2021). Throughout her career, Zellous picked up WNBA All-Star (2013), WNBA Most Improved Player (2013) and WNBA All-Rookie Team (2009) honors, and won a WNBA Championship with the Fever in 2012. The Orlando, Florida native has played professionally overseas in Turkey, Latvia, Israel, and France. She has been with the French club, ESB Villeneuve since the 2023 season, helping them to a Ligue Feminine championship in 2024 under Rachid Meziane’s direction.
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