Washington Mystics Hire New General Manager, Head Coach

The team has hired Jamila Wideman to be the latest general manager, while the newly announced coach is Sydney Johnson.

The WNBA’s Washington Mystics have announced a new general manager and head coach for the team.

According to the organization, the Mystics have hired Jamila Wideman as its latest general manager and announced Sydney Johnson as the new coach. Monumental Basketball, the team’s owners, made the announcement.

This year has been a celebration of progress in women’s sports, and today the @WashMystics began an exciting next step in this movement. The team announced Jamila Wideman will take over as the general manager and Sydney Johnson will step in as the head coach.

Jamila brings… pic.twitter.com/gC7NB8XPfT

— Zach Leonsis (@ZacharyLeonsis) December 23, 2024

“Jamila’s breadth of experience, range of core competencies, and passion for developing the whole athlete makes her the ideal person to usher in the new era of Mystics Basketball,” Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger said in a written statement. “Together with her player connectivity, big-picture vision, and intimate knowledge of the global scope of our game, we feel strongly that Jamila will be a bedrock for our athletes, coaches, and staff as they pursue another championship for the DMV. “Similarly, Sydney brings an exceptional combination of acumen, tenacity, and empathy that will elevate our play and galvanize the team around the new direction for this championship franchise. His deep love of basketball and passion for uplifting others make him a natural fit in our greater Monumental Basketball ecosystem.”

Wideman was most recently the senior vice president of Player Development for the WNBA for the past six years. She played her collegiate career at Stanford University, where she helped her team make three straight appearances to the NCAA Final Four (1995-1997). Wideman left Stanford and became one of the first WNBA players when she was drafted third overall in the 1997 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. She also played with the Portland Fire and Cleveland Rockers.

Johnson was an assistant coach with the Chicago Sky this past season. Previously, he was the head coach of the Fairfield University men’s basketball team for eight seasons (2011-2019). He took the team to four postseason appearances –- the most in school history. As a collegiate player, he led Princeton University to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances (1995-96, 1996-97) and is the only three-time captain in Princeton men’s basketball history.