INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Fever have a not-so-new face as president of basketball and business operations. Kelly Krauskopf returns to the franchise after helping grow it from the ground up during its first 18 years of existence.

Krauskopf spent the last six years with the Indiana Pacers, learning to build rosters and manage a team on the NBA side with Pacers president Kevin Pritchard and general manager Chad Buchanan.

“Anytime you’re asked to return to a place you helped build, you had a hand in building, it’s special,” Krauskopf said in her officially introductory press conference Tuesday. “I certainly wasn’t thinking of this as an option at the point in my career where I am.”

Longtime Fever president Dr. Allison Barber announced she was stepping down at the beginning of September. At the time, Pacers Sports and Entertainment CEO Mel Raines approached Krauskopf to see if she was interested in a return to Indy’s WNBA team.

“I had to really think about it because, for me, the first 18 years about killed me,” Krauskopf laughed. “You know, when you’re trying to keep the business going and you’re trying to keep the team moving in the right direction, I take a lot pride in how we operated and the success that we had, so I had to really think about it.”

Krauskopf ultimately decided she wanted to jump back in as the Fever are rising.

“This is in my DNA. Everything about running a team — running a basketball program, if you will — it’s really who I am. It’s my passion,” Krauskopf said. “I really feel like we’re poised, and we’re set up for a great successful next era of Fever basketball.”

That era began two years ago, when the Fever drafted the 2023 Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston first overall, then followed that up with selecting the once-in-a-generation player Caitlin Clark in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Krauskopf knows those two players have been instrumental in selling out Gainbridge Fieldhouse consistently this past season.

“We want to sustain the interest level and the growth of the franchise,” Krauskopf said. “This is about the Indiana Fever. Yes, we have a foundational player in Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, and we’re going to continue to add to that. But I want this team to be the leader in the country and an enduring brand, like Apple of something. We have a real opportunity here.”

After spending six seasons with the Pacers and helping build that team to a deep-run playoff threat, Krauskopf sees a lot of similarities between Clark and two-time NBA All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton.

“It’s uncanny how similar they both are,” Krauskopf said. “They control the tempo of the game, and we want to play almost identical to the way the Pacers are playing — or maybe they want to play like we’re playing. Either way, finding those right fits around a point guard like her is going to make us awfully dangerous. I’m looking forward to that challenge.”

Krauskopf returns to the franchise with the same mindset as she had 12 years ago when Tamika Catchings was leading the Fever to a WNBA Championship — building a legacy not just for the present, but for the next generation of female athletes.

“Caitlin Clark was 10 years old when we won our first championship — and I say first because we’re going to have another one at some point — but this is a moment where, it takes a generation sometimes to get to that next level,” Krauskopf said. “I would tell our players, ‘Look, we’re building this for someone else. We’re building this for someone’s 10-year-old daughter right now, because that’s what you do.’ We wanted to just keep moving it forward, keep pushing it forward, and paying it forward.”

Krauskopf is seeing all that work she put in years ago coming to fruition now. Basketball fans in Indianapolis and across the country are regularly watching and talking about what’s happening with Clark and the WNBA. That’s a big difference from when Krauskopf was being asked what the Fever logo on her shirt meant 20 years ago.

“It’s exciting to see people talking about the Indiana Fever, talking about Caitlin Clark did last night, or Aliyah Boston. Finally it’s here. We can have that conversation, and I don’t have to describe what the Fever is,” Krauskopf said. “I knew we were going to get there. It was going to happen. Something was going to happen, and I always had faith and was optimistic that it was going to happen. I just didn’t know if I was still going to be around to see it. And that excites me.”