Toronto Tempo Names Monica Wright Rogers As New GM, ‘She Was The Right Fit’

Most recently Rogers spent two seasons as an assistant general manager with the Phoenix Mercury.

Monica Wright Rogers is the official general manager of the Toronto Tempo ahead of the expansion team’s WNBA debut.

The WNBA champion was introduced as the Tempo’s operations leader in a press conference on Feb. 20 in Toronto, CBS Sports reports. Wright Rogers joins president Teresa Resch, chief marketing officer Whitney Bell, and other executives who are tasked with building out the WNBA’s newest team.

Wright Rogers, 36, most recently spent two seasons as an assistant general manager with the Phoenix Mercury, and will now be responsible for recruiting a head coach, players, sponsorships deals, and more.

“I want to do a lot of listening and learning,” Wright Rogers said. “I think that this is such a unique sports city and I want to be thoughtful in how we operate in our inaugural season. I really want to tap in with some of the other teams’ leaders and understand from them what’s been successful, what hasn’t in this city. And so that’s probably top of my to-do list.”

With extensive experience in the sport, she played seven seasons in the WNBA after being drafted second overall by the Minnesota Lynx in 2010, winning two championships with the team. Wright Rogers had a standout college career at Virginia before transitioning into coaching, where she scouted talent in Toronto. She later moved on to a role in the WNBA league office before ultimately joining the Mercury.

Resch initially narrowed the search for a GM to 20-25 candidates before trimming the list to six. Three finalists were invited to Toronto for “more intense” meetings, and ultimately, Wright Rogers stood out as the top choice after what Resch described as a rigorous interview process.

“She came up here and really represented herself well. You could tell she’s really authentic and genuine, had a great plan, was very focused on the purpose and the process, which was great to hear,” Resch said.

“So going back and then talking to everybody and hearing the impressions, it was evident that she was the right fit.”

Rogers Wright’s priority is assembling a basketball team from the ground up, beginning with hiring a head coach—a decision she aims to finalize by fall, ahead of the expansion draft.

“What we look like on court will be a combination of myself and what our head coach believes in. But you’ll see an up-tempo game,” Wright Rogers said with a smirk.