Vanessa Nygaard

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Vanessa Nygaard
Personal information
Born (1975-03-13) March 13, 1975 (age 49)
Scottsdale, Arizona
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolCarlsbad High School
(Carlsbad, California)
CollegeStanford (1994–1998)
WNBA draft1998: 4th round, 39th overall pick
Selected by the New York Liberty
Playing career1999–2003
PositionForward
Coaching career2003–present
Career history
As player:
1999Cleveland Rockers
20002001Portland Fire
2002Miami Sol
2003Los Angeles Sparks
As coach:
2003–2004Long Beach State (Assistant)
2004–2008Pepperdine (Assistant)
2008San Antonio Stars (Assistant)
2008–2012Windward School (Associate HC)
2012–2021Windward School
2021Las Vegas Aces (Assistant)
2022–2023Phoenix Mercury

Vanessa Nygaard (born March 13, 1975, in Scottsdale, Arizona) is a professional basketball coach and former player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is the former head coach for the Phoenix Mercury.

Stanford University

After graduating from

Final Fours
. Nygaard graduated in 1998, majoring in American Studies.

Playing career

After graduating from Stanford, Nygaard began her six-year career in the WNBA. She was selected by the

rebounds
per game.

During the WNBA off-season, she played in professional basketball leagues in Europe, including Germany (2001), Spain (1999) and Italy (1998).

Coaching career

In 2003, Nygaard became an assistant coach for the women's basketball team at California State University, Long Beach. The following year, in June 2004, she was hired as an assistant coach with Pepperdine University.

In 2008, she was named as an assistant coach for the

WNBA finals, before losing to the Detroit Shock
.

Nygaard took over as head coach of the girls' basketball team at Windward School in 2012-13. She has coached the team to three state titles, in 2013, 2017, and 2018.

In 2017, she joined USA Basketball as an assistant coach, helping lead the team during the 2017 FIBA America's Under-16 Championship and the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup.

In 2021, she joined head coach Bill Laimbeer on the Las Vegas Aces staff as an assistant coach.

Nygaard was named as the head coach of the Phoenix Mercury on January 24, 2022.[1] The Mercury fired Nygaard on June 25, 2023, after starting the 2023 season 2–10.[2]

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
PHO 2022 36 15 21 .417 4th in West 2 0 2 .000 Lost in First Round
PHO 2023 12 2 10 .167 6th in West (at time of firing) - - - Fired after 12 Games
Career 48 17 31 .354 2 0 2 .000

References

  1. ^ "MERCURY NAMES VANESSA NYGAARD HEAD COACH". Phoenix Mercury. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  2. ^ Merchant, Sabreena. "Phoenix Mercury fire coach Vanessa Nygaard after 2-10 start to season: What went wrong?". theathletic.com. The Athletic. Retrieved 26 June 2023.

External links