Vanessa Nygaard

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.

Vanessa Nygaard

Personal information
Born	(1975-03-13) March 13, 1975 Scottsdale, Arizona
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school	Carlsbad High School (Carlsbad, California)
College	Stanford (1994–1998)
WNBA draft	1998: 4th round, 39th overall pick
Selected by the New York Liberty
Playing career	1999–2003
Position	Forward
Coaching career	2003–present
Career history
As player:
1999	Cleveland Rockers
2000–2001	Portland Fire
2002	Miami Sol
2003	Los Angeles Sparks
As coach:
2003–2004	Long Beach State (Assistant)
2004–2008	Pepperdine (Assistant)
2008	San Antonio Stars (Assistant)
2008–2012	Windward School (Associate HC)
2012–2021	Windward School
2021	Las Vegas Aces (Assistant)
2022–2023	Phoenix Mercury
Career highlights and awards
All Pac-10 (1998)
Stats at Basketball Reference

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. The Mercury fired Nygaard on June 25, 2023, after starting the 2023 season 2–10.

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.

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

External links

• Pepperdine University coaches profile and interview
• April 27, 2005 Houston Comets press release of Nygaard's retirement from the WNBA
• January 6, 2009 Washington Mystics press release of Nygaard's joining the coaching staff