Sophie Brunner (born August 30, 1995) is an American former 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 (appro ...

player. She played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

before joining the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

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).

Early life

Brunner was born August 30, 1995 in

Freeport, Illinois Freeport is the largest city in Stephenson County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is k ...

. She attended Aquin High School in Freeport and led the school's basketball team to state championships in her junior and senior years. She was a two-time first-team all-state selection by ''

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major ...

''. In 2012, '' The News-Gazette'' named Brunner first-team all-state and the top girls basketball player in the

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

region. However, she was not a highly-ranked college basketball prospect;

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

ranked her a zero-star recruit. In 2020, ''

The Journal Standard ''The Journal Standard'' is an American daily newspaper published Monday through Saturday in Freeport, Illinois, by Gannett for readers in Carroll, Jo Daviess, Ogle Ogle may refer to: Places * Ogle County, Illinois, United States * Origina ...

'' named Brunner the greatest girls basketball player in Freeport-Rockford region history.

College career

Brunner committed to play

for the

. In the 2013–2014 season, her freshman year, she averaged 7.6 points and 6.4

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game and recorded four

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...

s on the season. The team qualified for the

2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The 2014 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was played in March and April 2014, with the Final Four played April 6–8. The Ohio Valley Conference served as the host institution. The Final Four was played at Bridgestone Arena in Nashv ...

; Brunner recorded 14 points and nine rebounds in a win over the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the National ...

and seven points and ten rebounds in a loss to the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

. She was an honorable mention to the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

all-freshmen team. In her sophomore season, Brunner averaged 11.9 points and 1.2 assists per game while

starting Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Starts use in sport race * Standing start, and rolling start, i ...

every game of the season; additionally, her 7.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game were the highest among the Sun Devils. In January 2015, Brunner was named the Pac-12 player of the week after notching a win against the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the sport, athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic pr ...

and two wins against the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

. She tallied 14 points and six rebounds in a win over the

Ohio Bobcats The Ohio Bobcats are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I Intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio University, located in Athens, Ohio, United States. Ohio University is a charter member (1946 ...

in the first round of the

2015 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament The 2015 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was played between March and April 2015, with the Final Four played April 5 & 7. The regional locations, after a one-year experiment allowing tournament teams to host, returned to four neut ...

. In the second round of the tournament, she recorded her sixth and final double-double of the season, with 17 points and 11 rebounds in a victory against the

Little Rock Trojans The Little Rock Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The Trojans are a non-football member of the Ohio Valley Conference and a wrestling affiliate member of the Pac-12 Conference. The university o ...

. She was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection. Brunner was selected to play for the

United States women's national basketball team The USA Basketball Women's National Team, commonly known as Team USA, is governed by USA Basketball and competes in FIBA Americas. The team is by far the most successful in international women's basketball, having won 10 out of the 12 Olympic to ...

at the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

; she contributed six points, six rebounds, and three assists in the second contest of the Games, a victory against the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. Team USA went on to win the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

. Brunner earned a second selection to the All-Pac-12 first team in her junior season. She led Arizona State in points (10.7), rebounds (7.4), and steals (1.7) per game, while additionally averaging 1.9 assists. She missed six games early in the season with an ankle injury. Brunner recorded five double-doubles and led Arizona State to the team's third consecutive NCAA tournament berth. In the 2016–2017 season, Brunner's senior year, she started in every game. She contributed 1.2 steals and 1.8 assists per game, while her average points (13.6) and rebounds (7.4) led the team. She recorded five double-doubles and surpassed 1,000 career points. On December 11, 2016, Brunner made a game-winning shot with six seconds left in

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

to defeat the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

. She led the Sun Devils to the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in four years, tallying nine points, five rebounds, and four assists in a first-round win against the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

, and was named first-team All-Pac-12 for a third time. While playing at Arizona State, Brunner earned the nickname "Paws" for her large hands and proficient rebounding ability.

Professional career

Brunner was not selected in the 2017 WNBA draft, but she was signed in free agency by the

and made the team's season-opening roster. Later that season, the Mercury traded her to the

San Antonio 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 th ...

. After her WNBA career, Brunner played for professional teams in

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and

Sesto San Giovanni Sesto San Giovanni (; , ), locally referred to as just Sesto (), is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the Italian region of Lombardy. It was awarded with the honorary title of ''città'' (city) by decree of 10 Apri ...

in Italy. She returned to her home in Illinois during the

COVID-19 lockdowns in Italy On 9 March 2020, the government of Italy under Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte imposed a national lockdown or quarantine, restricting the movement of the population except for necessity, work, and health circumstances, in response to the growin ...

, which brought her third season in Italy to an early end.

Coaching career

In 2020, Brunner became an assistant basketball coach at Rockford Christian Schools in Rockford, Illinois. She also began teaching at

Rockford Public School District 205 Rockford Public Schools, officially designated by the state as Rockford Public Schools District 205 is a large unit school district located in Rockford, Illinois. In 2012, the district had an enrollment of 26,980 students, making it the fourth- ...

Career statistics

WNBA

, - , rowspan=2 align=left , , align=left , Phoenix , 3, , 0, , 4.3, , .000, , —, , —, , 1.3, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.3, , 0.0 , - , align=left ,

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, 1, , 0, , 2.0, , —, , —, , —, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , align=left , Career , align=left , 1 year, 2 teams , 4, , 0, , 3.8, , .000, , —, , —, , 1.0, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.3, , 0.0

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

, 33, , 22, , 21.1, , .497, , .000, , .636, , 6.4, , 1.0, , 0.9, , 0.3, , 1.4, , 7.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35, , 35, , 26.7, , .543, , .000, , .731, , 7.6, , 1.2, , 1.8, , 0.3, , 2.1, , 11.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 27, , 27, , 28.6, , .530, , .500, , .684, , 7.4, , 1.9, , 1.7, , 0.2, , 2.1, , 10.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33, , 33, , 28.7, , .514, , .393, , .720, , 7.4, , 1.8, , 1.2, , 0.3, , 1.9, , 13.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 128, , 117, , 26.2, , .523, , .375, , .694, , 7.2, , 1.5, , 1.4, , 0.3, , 1.9, , 11.0

Personal life

Brunner has three siblings. She

majored An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

in education studies at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

References

External links

College stats at Sports Reference

Team USA profile

USA Basketball profile

Arizona State Sun Devils bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunner, Sophie Living people 1995 births 21st-century American sportswomen American women's basketball players Arizona State Sun Devils women's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Forwards (basketball) Phoenix Mercury players San Antonio Stars players Sportspeople from Freeport, Illinois