INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides remembers one specific time she and her team got caught up in commercial airline troubles.

Really, she said, she tries to suppress it.

“I don’t remember (what airport),” Sides said. “I was trying to block that one out.”

More: Caitlin Clark, welcome to WNBA… and commercial flights. ‘Will definitely be an adjustment.’

More: How Caitlin Clark is inspiring Indiana’s next generation of stars

Back when she was an assistant coach for the Chicago Sky between 2011-16, the team was trying to make the second game of a back-to-back. But the plane was delayed. Then delayed again. And again. Finally, canceled. The team, coaches and support staff had to sleep in the airport while waiting for a 6 a.m. flight. Then, they played a game that night.

But now, with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert saying the league will start to use full charter flights for all 12 teams this season, commercial flight issues will be a thing of the past.

“It is incredible,” Sides said. “I just sent a message out to the players last night when the news hit, just that this is what they deserve. They deserve this, and it changes everything. It changes their rest, it changes their rehab… Instead of getting up at like, early in the morning to get back here, then they don’t have to practice at four o’clock, five o’clock in the evening. It changes everything.”

With these new charter flights, the only thing they’ll be losing out on is airline miles.

“I guess I’ll have to book some extra flights,” Fever center Aliyah Boston joked.

The league doesn’t have a specific timeline yet for when charter flights will be available for all 12 teams. Engelbert said the program will be implemented “as soon as we can logistically get planes in places,” but added it could take up to a couple weeks or a month, meaning teams will likely start the regular season flying commercially.

More: WNBA plans to provide full-time charter flights for Indiana Fever, league teams this season

The Fever flew commercially from Indianapolis International Airport to Dallas/Fort Worth for their preseason game against the Dallas Wings last week, and they were met with fans wanting signatures and media taking videos.

“There were people (in the airport) like ‘Oh my gosh, can we get signatures, can we get your signatures?’” Boston said. “And obviously you guys saw people like following us with a camera. But I mean, that’s just what it is, we understand. So I’m really glad that we’re taking these precautions, especially with charter.”

Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark has been the main reason for a lot of the media attention the Fever have been getting recently. Pacers Sports & Entertainment beefed up its security during Fever travel because of Clark’s popularity, and she was the subject of most of the videos about the Fever’s arrival in Dallas.

Now, Clark and the Fever will have more privacy when they travel. And in the 27th year of the WNBA, it’s been a long time coming.

“I’m just super excited for the players who have been in this league for a really long time and have really deserved this for years and years and years,” Clark said. “I’m just excited, I’m thankful, at whatever point that it is, that it happens. It’ll be great for us, it’ll make recovery easier, it’ll make travel easier, it just makes life a lot easier for a lot of people… I’m just very fortunate to come to this league and have this opportunity the first year that I’m here.”

Boston spent her rookie season flying to games commercially — a stark change from her four years at South Carolina, where she and the Gamecocks flew charter to every game. For the second-year center, who stands at 6-4, flying charter isn’t only about security. It’s about being able to stretch out on planes, get back home after games, and have extra time to rest.

“You play your game, you get back on that plane, and you get to sleep in your own bed,” Boston said. “That’s really what you know, we’ve been used to in college. So coming here and making that change, you know, is going to be great for us.”

Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.

It’s been a wildly successful spring for Mike Woodson and the Indiana coaching staff in the transfer portal.

The Hoosiers landed commitments and signed Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle, Oumar Ballo and Luke Goode. Indiana is also viewed as the favorite to land Langdon Hatton, which would help solidify the roster’s frontcourt depth.

While transfer portal class recruiting rankings aren’t as widely available as high school recruiting class rankings, more outlets have started to publish them as the portal becomes more prominent.

Here’s a look at how Indiana’s transfer portal recruiting class stacks up nationally and in the Big Ten:

247Sports

Indiana transfer portal class rank: No. 2

Player rankings: Ballo (No. 2), Carlyle (No. 18), Rice (No. 27), Goode (No. 136)

Notes: With 33.30 points, Indiana trails only Arkansas (33.46 points) in the 247Sports transfer team rankings. The top five teams are Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, St. John’s and West Virginia.

Rankings for other Big Ten programs:

Michigan (No. 8) – 6 commits
UCLA (No. 9) – 6 commits
Ohio State (No. 13) – 4 commits
Illinois (No. 14) – 5 commits
USC (No. 16) – 9 commits
Oregon (No. 21) – 3 commits
Maryland (No. 25) – 4 commits
Penn State (No. 36) – 4 commits
Wisconsin (No. 39) – 3 commits
Nebraska (No. 48) – 5 commits
Washington (No. 52) – 3 commits
Rutgers (No. 58) – 3 commits
Minnesota (No. 70) – 5 commits
Michigan State (No. 86) – 1 commit
Northwestern (No. 113) – 2 commits
Iowa (No. 137) – 1 commit
Purdue (Not ranked) – Zero commits

On3

Indiana transfer portal class rank: No. 4

Player rankings: Ballo (No. 1), Carlyle (No. 13), Rice (No. 36), Goode (No. 237)

Notes: With an index score of 23, Indiana trails Louisville (31), West Virginia (31) and UCLA (27) in the On3 transfer team rankings. The top five teams are Louisville, West Virginia, UCLA, Indiana and Georgia.

These rankings are a bit different than a typical team ranking as On3 attempts to “measure a team’s production during the transfer process, compared relative against its roster and not a comparison against other schools. This proprietary algorithm determines if a school has improved its overall team talent, stayed the same, or declined in talent during the transfer window.”

In other words, On3 is trying to measure team improvement in the portal window.

Rankings for other Big Ten programs:

UCLA (No. 3) – 6 commits
Michigan (No. 6) – 6 commits
Nebraska (No. 9) – 5 commits
Oregon (No. 20) – 3 commits
Maryland (No. 21) – 4 commits
USC (No. 25) – 9 commits
Illinois (No. 28) – 5 commits
Northwestern (No. 30) – 2 commits
Washington (No. 38) – 3 commits
Purdue (No. 51) – 0 commits
Michigan State (No. 52) – 1 commit
Rutgers (No. 54) – 3 commits
Iowa (No. 56) – 1 commit
Penn State (No. 57) – 4 commits
Ohio State (No. 58) – 4 commits
Wisconsin (No. 61) – 3 commits
Minnesota (No. 64) – 5 commits

EvanMiya.com

Indiana transfer portal class rank: No. 5

Player rankings: Ballo (No. 3), Rice (No. 81), Carlyle (No. 155), Goode (No. 178)

Notes: The top five teams in Miya’s transfer portal team rankings are St. John’s, Louisville, Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana.

Rankings for other Big Ten programs:

Michigan (No. 3) – 6 commits
Ohio State (No. 15) – 4 commits
USC (No. 16) – 9 commits
UCLA (No. 17) – 6 commits
Illinois (No. 19) – 5 commits
Maryland (No. 26) – 4 commits
Oregon (No. 37) – 3 commits
Nebraska (No. 39) – 5 commits
Minnesota (No. 67) – 5 commits
Washington (No. 79) – 3 commits
Michigan State (No. 118) – 1 commit
Rutgers (No. 121) – 3 commits
Penn State (No. 127) – 4 commits
Northwestern (No. 143) – 2 commits
Iowa (No. 160) – 1 commits
Wisconsin (No. 163) – 3 commits
Purdue (Not ranked) – Zero commits

Filed to: Transfer portal

The Indiana Pacers wrap up the opening set of games in New York for their second-round series with the Knicks tonight. Indiana fell in Game 1 in Madison Square Garden, but they’ll look to bounce back tonight just like they did in their first-round series.

The Knicks were excellent in the second half on the offensive end on Monday, so the Pacers will hope to improve on defense. That may require putting more attention on Jalen Brunson or being more focused on the glass. Either way, the blue and gold know what they need to do to win and get back on track in the series.

Viewing and Betting Information

Tip off time: 8 p.m. Eastern Time

Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York

Where to watch: NBA League Pass, TNT

Spread and Over/Under: The Pacers are underdogs as they are currently +4.5 in the SI Sportsbook. The over/under for the game is 222.5.

Pacers vs Knicks Injury Report

The Pacers listed Bennedict Mathurin (torn labrum) as out. Tyrese Haliburton (lower back spasms) is questionable once again, though head coach Rick Carlisle said he’s confident Haliburton will play.

The Knicks listed Julius Randle (right shoulder surgery), Bojan Bogdanovic (left foot surgery), and Mitchell Robinson (left ankle stress injury) as out. They are all three out for the entire Pacers-Knicks series.

Key Matchup

Andrew Nembhard vs Jalen Brunson: The Pacers, like most teams in the league, struggled to contain Brunson in Game 1. The star Knicks guard scored 43 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, while adding six rebounds and six assists. He was sensational.

Nembhard will try to slow him down, though it will really take a team effort from Indiana. They’ll need to throw multiple coverages at the talented ball handler and make him think, and they need to continue to attack him as a defender as well.

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• Indiana Pacers discuss the officiating from the end of Game 1 loss to New York Knicks. CLICK HERE.
• Indiana Pacers drop Game 1 late vs New York Knicks and fall behind in series. CLICK HERE.
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