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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
2000–2001Portland 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
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

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

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

WNBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1998 Did not play (waived)
1999 Cleveland 4 0 5.0 50.0 50.0 0.0 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.5 0.8
2000 Portland 32 28 26.3 43.5 33.3 75.9 3.8 0.9 0.5 0.2 1.2 7.9
2001 Portland 31 0 8.4 38.9 38.8 33.3 1.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.5 2.5
2002 Miami 29 22 15.3 42.6 37.5 76.9 2.3 0.3 0.4 0.0 0.4 4.1
2003 Los Angeles 11 3 15.3 44.4 35.3 75.0 1.7 0.5 0.3 0.0 0.4 3.7
Career 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

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2003 Los Angeles 5 0 4.8 60.0 100.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 1.6
Career 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

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1994–95 Stanford 29 - - 35.0 24.3 65.0 2.2 0.6 0.4 0.0 - 3.2
1995–96 Stanford 31 - - 44.3 38.9 59.0 7.0 2.3 1.1 0.1 - 14.2
1996–97 Stanford 31 - - 43.2 36.7 75.0 6.9 2.2 1.4 0.2 - 11.6
1997–98 Stanford 26 - - 49.8 45.9 75.7 6.2 2.1 1.2 0.1 - 14.9
Career 117 - - 44.5 39.2 68.9 5.6 1.8 1.1 0.1 - 10.9
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[3]

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.
  3. ^ "Vanessa Nygaard College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
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