Brian Agler (born August 2, 1958) is an American college athletics administrator and former women's

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 (appro ...

coach. He is the athletic director at Wittenberg University in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

, a position he has held since 2021. Agler served as head coach of the Dallas Wings of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA) from 2019 to 2020. He had previously been head coach of the Seattle Storm and the Los Angeles Sparks, each of whom he led to a WNBA championship, in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, respectively. During his coaching career, Agler has guided young stars like Candace Parker, Nneka Ogwumike, Alana Beard, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Tayler Hill, Liz Cambage, Megan Gustafson, and Arike Ogunbowale.

Early years

Agler attended college at Wittenberg University in Ohio, where he won 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 in 1985.

Coaching career

College

Kansas State

Agler became the head coach of the Kansas State 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 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, piloting them to a 48–67 record from 1999–2002.

Assistant coaching stints

He served as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Mercury in the 2004 season, then with the San Antonio Silver Stars from 2005 to 2007.

Seattle Storm

The Seattle Storm named Agler head coach on January 9, 2008. He succeeded Anne Donovan. who resigned in November 2007. Agler was the general manager and head coach for the Seattle Storm 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 The 2016 WNBA Finals, officially the WNBA Finals 2016 presented by Verizon for sponsorship reasons, was the best-of-five championship series for the 2016 WNBA season, 2016 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The top-se ...

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

Professional career

In January 2021, Agler joined Wittenberg University as the Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation.

Personal life

Agler's son, Bryce, was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Sparks during Agler's tenure as head coach of the franchise.

Head coaching record

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1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

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2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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2001 The year's most prominent event was 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. The United States led a Participan ...

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2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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2020 The year 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 even ...

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References

External links

Wittenberg profile
{{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 City Roos women's basketball coaches 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 athletic directors 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 20th-century American sportsmen