The Phoenix Mercury will name Las Vegas Aces assistant coach Vanessa Nygaard as their next head coach, The Athletic and ESPN reported Friday.
Nygaard is set to replace Sandy Brondello, who took the head coaching job with the New York Liberty this offseason after Phoenix allowed her contract to expire. Per ESPN, the Mercury plan to announce the hire on Monday.
Nygaard, 46, was a successful high school coach in California and has assistant coaching experience at the collegiate and WNBA levels. Her roles have included assistant coaching jobs with Long Beach State, Pepperdine, the San Antonio Stars and the Washington Mystics before joining the Aces’ staff in 2021.
She is a native of Scottsdale, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix. She went to three Final Fours with Stanford and played five seasons in the WNBA as a forward, where she averaged 4.6 points and 2.3 rebounds per game for her career (107 games, 53 starts).
The Mercury are coming off a runner-up finish in the WNBA playoffs. They lost to the Chicago Sky in the 2021 WNBA Finals three games to one.
–Field Level Media
