Vanessa Nygaard Explained

Vanessa Nygaard
Position:Head coach
Birth Date:13 March 1975
Height Ft:6
Height In:1
Weight Lb:175
Nationality:American
High School:Carlsbad High School
(Carlsbad, California)
College:Stanford (1994–1998)
Draft League:WNBA
Draft Year:1998
Draft Round:4
Draft Pick:39
Draft Team:New York Liberty
Career Start:1999
Career End:2003
Career Position:Forward
Team1:Cleveland Rockers
Years2:
Team2:Portland Fire
Team3:Miami Sol
Team4:Los Angeles Sparks
Coach Start:2003
Cyears1:2003–2004
Cteam1:Long Beach State (Assistant)
Cyears2:2004–2008
Cteam2:Pepperdine (Assistant)
Cyears3:2008
Cteam3:San Antonio Stars (Assistant)
Cyears4:2008–2012
Cteam4:Windward School (Associate HC)
Cyears5:2012–2021
Cyears6:2021
Cteam6:Las Vegas Aces (Assistant)
Cyears7:2022–2023
Cteam7:Phoenix Mercury
Highlights:

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 high school in Carlsbad, California, Nygaard attended Stanford University from 1993 to 1998, and was a star player for their women's basketball team, known as The Cardinal. During her time there, the team accumulated a combined 113-14 won-loss record, including an impressive 69-2 within the Pacific-10 Conference, and reached three 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 New York Liberty in the fourth round (39th overall pick) of the 1998 WNBA draft. She missed the 1998 and most of the 1999 seasons due to injury, but joined the starting lineup with the Portland Fire team in 2000 and 2001 and with the Miami Sol team in 2002. She also played for the Cleveland Rockers, the Charlotte Sting, and the Los Angeles Sparks. Prior to the 2004 WNBA season began, Nygaard signed a free agent contract with the Houston Comets, but was waived by the team during training camp. She signed another contract with the Comets prior to the 2005 season, but decided to announce her retirement instead. Her best season came with the Sol in 2002, when she averaged 7.9 points and 3.8 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 San Antonio Silver Stars and helped the team to appear in 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]

Career statistics

WNBA

Regular season

|-| align="left" | 1998| style="text-align:center;" colspan="13" |Did not play (waived)|-| align="left" | 1999| align="left" | Cleveland|4||0||5.0||50.0||50.0||0.0||0.8||0.5||0.5||0.0||0.5||0.8 |-| align="left" | 2000| align="left" | Portland|32||28||26.3||43.5||33.3||75.9||3.8||0.9||0.5||0.2||1.2||7.9 |-| align="left" | 2001| align="left" | Portland|31||0||8.4||38.9||38.8||33.3||1.1||0.3||0.2||0.1||0.5||2.5|-| align="left" | 2002| align="left" | Miami|29||22||15.3||42.6||37.5||76.9||2.3||0.3||0.4||0.0||0.4||4.1 |-| align="left" | 2003| align="left" | Los Angeles|11||3||15.3||44.4||35.3||75.0||1.7||0.5||0.3||0.0||0.4||3.7 |-| align="left" | Career| align="left" | 5 years, 4 teams|107||53||16.2||42.6||36.0||74.3||2.3||0.5||0.4||0.1||0.7||4.6

Playoffs

|-| align="left" | 2003| align="left" | Los Angeles|5||0||4.8||60.0||100.0||0.0||1.0||0.0||0.2||0.2||0.2 ||1.6|-| align="left" | Career| align="left" | 1 year, 1 team|5||0||4.8||60.0||100.0||0.0||1.0||0.0||0.2||0.2||0.2 ||1.6

College

|-| style="text-align:left;" | 1994–95| style="text-align:left;" | Stanford|29||-||-||35.0||24.3||65.0||2.2||0.6||0.4||0.0||-||3.2 |-| style="text-align:left;" | 1995–96| style="text-align:left;" | Stanford|31||-||-||44.3||38.9||59.0||7.0||2.3||1.1||0.1||-||14.2|-| style="text-align:left;" | 1996–97| style="text-align:left;" | Stanford|31||-||-||43.2||36.7||75.0||6.9||2.2||1.4||0.2||-||11.6|-| style="text-align:left;" | 1997–98| style="text-align:left;" | Stanford|26||-||-||49.8||45.9||75.7||6.2||2.1||1.2||0.1||-||14.9 |-| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 | Career|117||-||-||44.5||39.2||68.9||5.6||1.8||1.1||0.1||-||10.9 |- class="sortbottom"|style="text-align:center;" colspan="14"|Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[3]

Head coaching record

|-| align="left" | PHO| align="left" | 2022| 36 || 15 || 21 |||| align="center" |4th in West|| 2 || 0 || 2 ||| align="center" | Lost in First Round|-| align="left" | PHO| align="left" | 2023| 12 || 2 || 10 |||| align="center" |6th in West (at time of firing)|| - || - || - ||| align="center" | Fired after 12 Games|-class="sortbottom"| align="left" |Career| || 48 || 17 || 31 |||| || 2 || 0 || 2 || ||

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: MERCURY NAMES VANESSA NYGAARD HEAD COACH. 2022-01-24. Phoenix Mercury. en.
  2. Web site: Merchant . Sabreena . Phoenix Mercury fire coach Vanessa Nygaard after 2-10 start to season: What went wrong? . theathletic.com . The Athletic . 26 June 2023.
  3. Web site: Vanessa Nygaard College Stats. Sports-Reference. July 7, 2024.