Sandy Brondello Reportedly Expected to Agree to Contract as New Liberty Head Coach
The WNBA's New York Liberty are reportedly "expected" to name Sandy Brondello the team's new head coach, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.
Brondello, 53, played in the WNBA between 1998-03 for the Detroit Shock, Miami Sol and Seattle Storm, averaging 11.4 points and 2.3 assists per game.
She pivoted to coaching in 2005, serving as an assistant on the San Antonio Silver Stars until 2009, when she was promoted to head coach for the 2010 season. She was fired after one season on the job, leading the team to a 14-20 record,
Brondello then served as an assistant for the Los Angeles Spark between 2011-13 before being appointed the head coach of the Phoenix Mercury in 2014.
She remained in that post until this past season, leading the team to a 150-108 record during her tenure and eight straight playoff appearances. The Mercury won the title in 2014 and lost in the finals this year to the Chicago Sky.
The Mercury and Brondello agreed to "mutually" part ways in December after her contract expired:
"To be quite honest, I've been here for eight years, and management decided it was good to have a new voice so if you call that mutual, that's what it was," she told ESPN's Ball and the Real World podcast.
Brondello, who also coaches Australia's national team, hinted that she had an interest in the Liberty gig.
"I'd like to stay coaching in the WNBA," she said. "I love the challenge of bringing a team together in the best league in the world with the best players in the world. The only team that's available is New York, that would be a great situation if they deemed me to be the next coach. We'll see, if not I can focus on the Opals next year and look the following year if any jobs become available. I like challenging myself, so we'll see."
She'll be leading an exciting Liberty squad headlined by the talented trio of Sabrina Ionescu, Michaela Onyenwere and Betnijah Laney. The Liberty went 12-20 last season under Walt Hopkins and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Phoenix.
