Brian Agler (born August 2, 1958) is an American women's professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. He previously coached the Dallas Wings from 2019 to 2020. He also had previously been head coach of the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

and the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

, each of whom he led to a championship in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

respectively. During his coaching career, Agler has guided young stars like

Candace Parker Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft by the Los An ...

Nneka Ogwumike Nnemkadi Chinwe Victoria "Nneka" Ogwumike (; born July 2, 1990) is a Nigerian-American basketball player for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), after being drafted No. 1 overall in the 2012 WNBA Draft. S ...

Alana Beard Alana Monique Beard (born May 14, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. After playing college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils, she was drafted second overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2004 WNBA Draft. She signed ...

, Skylar Diggins-Smith,

Tayler Hill Tayler Hill (born October 23, 1990) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. Hill previously played for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketbal ...

, Liz Cambage,

Megan Gustafson Megan Gustafson (born December 13, 1996) is an American basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Gustafson was drafted in the second round (17th overall) by the Dallas Wings in the 2019 WNB ...

, and

Arike Ogunbowale Arike Ogunbowale (born March 2, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, before being drafted ...

Early years

Agler attended college at

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students representing 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. ...

in Ohio, where he cheered on the Tigers win the 1977 Division III NCAA Championship as a point guard. He graduated in 1980. He received his master's degree in education from

Pittsburg State University Pittsburg State University (Pitt State or PSU) is a public university in Pittsburg, Kansas. It enrolls approximately 7,400 students (6,000 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students) and is a member of the Kansas Board of Regents. History P ...

in 1985.

Coaching career

College

Kansas State

Agler became the head coach of the

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

women's basketball team in 1993. He was suspended in the middle of his third season (1995–1996), pending an NCAA rules violation investigation. Kansas State under Agler was 13–14 his first season (1993–1994), 14–13 his second season, and 11–12 for the 23 games he coached in his final season.

American Basketball League (ABL)

Columbus Quest

As head coach of the

Columbus Quest The Columbus Quest was a professional women's basketball franchise located in Columbus, Ohio in the now-defunct American Basketball League (ABL). They were one of the league's original eight teams that started play in 1996. In the league's b ...

of the American Basketball League, Agler led the team to a combined 82–22 record and two ABL Championships. He was named ABL Coach of the Year in 1997.

Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)

Minnesota Lynx

After the ABL collapsed in late 1998, Agler made the shift to the WNBA. He became the first head coach of the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

, piloting them to a 48–67 record from 1999–2002.

Assistant coaching stints

He served as an assistant coach with the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...

in the 2004 season, then with the

San Antonio Silver Stars The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before the ...

from 2005 to 2007.

Seattle Storm

The Seattle Storm named Agler head coach on January 9, 2008. He succeeded

Anne Donovan Anne Theresa Donovan (November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018) was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun. In her playing career, Donovan won a national championship with Ol ...

. who resigned in November 2007. Agler was the general manager and head coach for the

until 2014, leading them to their second championship in 2010.

Los Angeles Sparks

On January 5, 2015, it was announced that Agler would become the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks. Agler guided the 2015 version of the Sparks to a 14–20 record and a 4th-place finish in the WNBA's Western Conference. On October 20, 2016, Agler guided the Sparks to their third WNBA championship, defeating the Lynx, 77–76, in the decisive Game 5 of the 2016 WNBA Finals, thereby winning the league championship series, 3–2. He became the first head coach to win WNBA titles with two teams. On November 1, 2018, Agler resigned from his position as the Sparks coach.

Dallas Wings

On December 17, 2018, Agler was hired as the head coach of the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American basketball team based in Arlington, Texas. The Wings play in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team is owned by a group which is led by chairman Bill Cameron. Greg ...

. On October 14, 2020, the Dallas Wings announced that the organization had parted ways with Agler.

Coaching record

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1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

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2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

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2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

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2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, 19, , 6, , 13, , , , align="center" , 8th in West, , -, , -, , -, , - , align="center" , Fired Mid-Season , - , align="left" ,

SEA The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

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2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

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2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

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WNBA Finals The WNBA Finals are the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002. Starting 2016 Verizon is the officia ...

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2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, 34, , 21, , 13, , , , align="center" , 2nd in West, , 3, , 1, , 2, , , align="center" , Lost in Western Conference Semi-Finals , - , align="left" ,

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2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, 34, , 16, , 18, , , , align="center" , 4th in West, , 3, , 1, , 2, , , align="center" , Lost in Western Conference Semi-Finals , - , align="left" ,

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2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, 34, , 17, , 17, , , , align="center" , 4th in West, , 2, , 0, , 2, , , align="center" , Lost in Western Conference Semi-Finals , - , align="left" ,

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2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

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2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, 34, , 14, , 20, , , , align="center" , 4th in West, , 3, , 1, , 2, , , align="center" , Lost in Western Conference Semi-Finals , - ! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left" , LA , align="left" ,

, 34, , 26, , 8, , , , align="center" , 2nd in West, , 9, , 6, , 3, , , align="center" , Won

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2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, 34, , 26, , 8, , , , align="center" , 2nd in West, , 8, , 5, , 3, , , align="center" , Lost in

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2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, 34, , 19, , 15, , , , align="center" , 3rd in West, , 2, , 1, , 1, , , align="center" , Lost in Western Conference Semi-Finals , - , align="left" ,

DAL In Indian cuisine, ''dal'' (also spelled ''daal'' or ''dhal''; pronunciation: , Hindi: दाल, Urdu: ) are dried, split pulses (e.g., lentils, peas, and beans) that do not require soaking before cooking. India is the largest producer of pu ...

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2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

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2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

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Personal life

He now lives in Ohio. Is now Athletic Director at his alma mater Wittenberg University. Where he forced long time football coach Joe Fincham to resign after 25 years at the school. Brian stated it was his decision Agler's son, Bryce, was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Sparks during Agler's tenure as head coach of the franchise.

References

External links

Brian Agler named head coach of the Seattle Storm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agler, Brian 1958 births Living people American Basketball League (1996–1998) coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Ohio Kansas State Wildcats women's basketball coaches Los Angeles Sparks head coaches Minnesota Lynx head coaches Phoenix Mercury coaches Point guards San Antonio Stars coaches Seattle Storm coaches University of Pittsburgh alumni Wittenberg Tigers men's basketball players Women's National Basketball Association championship-winning head coaches Women's National Basketball Association executives Women's National Basketball Association general managers