Chicago Sky Add Donnie Marsh, David Simon, Can Ozbalkan to 2025 Coaching Staff

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WNBA Chicago Sky

Chicago Sky Add Donnie Marsh, David Simon, Can Ozbalkan to 2025 Coaching Staff

March 27, 2025 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release


CHICAGO - The Chicago Sky are adding to their support staff under Head Coach Tyler Marsh ahead of the 2025 season. The Sky are hiring Donnie Marsh as a basketball operations specialist while David Simon is returning in an elevated role as the director of player development and Can Ozbalkan is returning as video coordinator. This comes after the Sky previously named Courtney Paris, Tanisha Wright and Rena Wakama as assistant coaches.

Marsh, Tyler's father, is a longtime veteran collegiate basketball coach with a coaching career spanning over four decades. He most recently joined the coaching staff at the University of Detroit Mercy in 2021 and helped the Titans to their first postseason berth since 2012-13 in his first season. Prior to his role in the Motor City, Marsh has been a part of several Division I coaching staffs, including roles at Florida State (1995-97), Virginia Tech (1997-00), Florida International (2000-04), Indiana (2004-06), Alabama-Birmingham (2006-12) - where he coached Tyler from 2006-08 - and Texas Southern (2012-13, 2014-17).

Donnie and Tyler Marsh coached together as head coach and assistant coach, respectively, at Alabama A&M during the 2017-18 season. Known for his defensive mindset, he has been a part of 11 postseason appearances, including five NCAA tournament appearances.

"I'm so grateful to have my dad as part of my first coaching staff. He was my first coach who instilled in me a great passion for the game and a deep understanding of basketball fundamentals," Marsh said. "I am excited that he will bring his wealth of knowledge to the Sky and have an equally inspiring impact on our players."

Simon, an Illinois native, returns to the organization as the Sky's director of player development. He first joined the organization in 2023 as a player development coach and will enter his third season with the Sky in 2025. Simon has played professionally overseas since 2005 in South Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, France, Serbia, Bulgaria, Russia and the Philippines. He also had a distinguished career at Purdue Fort Wayne from 2001-05 was inducted into the IPFW Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.

Ozbalkan returns to the Sky for his fourth season. He started out in 2022 as an assistant video coordinator and has held the role of head video coordinator since 2023. He recently spent the past WNBA offseason as an assistant coach at Lake Forest College and, prior to that, spent two seasons at Purdue Northwest in a similar role.

"David and Can have been with the Sky for years and understand how to prepare and set up our players for success here," Marsh said. "Both have broad experiences across the organization, and I'm looking forward to working with them this season."

Chicago will tip off the 2025 regular season on Saturday, May 17 against Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 12 p.m. CT. The Sky will also play three preseason games in 2025, including two against Minnesota on May 6 and 10, and one against the Brazilian National Team at LSU on May 2. Follow @chicagosky on all social media platforms and head to sky.wnba.com for the latest news, content and ticket purchasing.

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