Sandy Brondello
Biography
Sandy has risen to the highest level representing her country as a player and now coach at Olympic level.
One of Australia’s best-ever shooting guards, with a famous jump shot, Sandy competed at four Olympics and was a key to medal-winning campaigns in 1996 (bronze), Sydney (silver) and Athens (silver) during a glittering era for the Opals.
She’d also be one of many Aussies playing in the WNBA during the league’s formative era and earned All-Star status in 1999.
After retiring, she’d turn her hand to coaching with husband, and her own former coach, Olaf Lange, with Logan Thunder in the WNBL and San Antonia Stars and Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA.
In her first season as Phoenix Mercury head coach. Sandy was named Coach of the Year and guided her team to the championship.
She was appointed Opals coach in 2017 following the program’s disappointing Olympic campaign in Rio and immediately returned Australia to the podium with a silver-medal finish at the World Cup in Spain.
Sandy would represent her country at a fifth Olympics, this time as coach of her country in Tokyo.
In 2022, the Brondello-led Opals won a bronze medal on home soil in Sydney at the World Cup.
Sandy currently coaches the New York Liberty in the WNBA and is a She Hoops ambassador.
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