Nia Coffey is her father’s daughter. She has the same tenacity as her dad Richard Coffey, whom I covered as a Gopher, during his one-year stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves and his post-athletic nonprofit work over the years.
Accordingly, I’ve followed Nia’s hoopin’ journey since she graduated from Hopkins as a high school McDonald All-American, then as an all-Big Ten player at Northwestern, and then her nearly a decade in the WNBA. Yet it was only after a recent Minnesota Lynx practice that we formally sat down and chatted.
“I appreciate every season,” said the 6-foot-1 small forward, “because I’ve been able to add to my repertoire and just got better and just more resilient in my journey with basketball.”
“I picked up a few different skills,” she said, since San Antonio, now Las Vegas, selected Coffey at No. 5 in the 2017 WNBA Draft. Her impeccable credentials, Big Ten All-Freshman team, led Northwestern in scoring and rebounding all four years. The school’s first player to earn all-conference honors all four seasons would only get her in the door. Coffey expectedly had to adjust to the next level of play in order to stick around the W.
“When I got to the pros,” she continued, “I was like, how much more could I give and how much did I need to improve to stay in the league. I was really fortunate to have a successful career in college, but that wasn’t cutting it.”
“So I realized, season by season, just continue to get better and be open to whatever basketball brought me… and honestly, really blessed that it brought me home,” said Coffey, who signed with Minnesota as a free agent after two seasons in Atlanta. This is her seventh pro club and ninth season in the W. She also played overseas during the offseasons.
“I would say the first time I went overseas, I didn’t know what to expect,” recalled Coffey. “The things that people tell you to watch out for when you’re younger, like don’t get in a car with strangers.”
Like all players, veterans and rookies alike, Coffey saw a significant bump in her pay due to the new seven-year collective bargaining agreement that kicked in this season. “A lot of people are starting to reap those benefits,” she said. “It’s really cool to see the full circle of how far the league has come, this is my 10th year from when I first started. I’m very blessed that I get to see it, too.”
Coffey is in Minnesota’s regular rotation, she has started thus far, and recorded her eighth career double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) last week in a win at Phoenix.
She’s not a rebounding machine like her dad was in his day, but joining the Lynx means she gets to work with Assistant Coach Rebekkah Brunson, a legendary board master and the only player in W history to win five championship rings.
“Now with Coach Brunson, getting to work with her, I get to learn from one of the best of the best,” Coffey said. “What does she think I need to add to my game? What does she think are my strong suits? There’s always something to work on.”
The St. Paul native is a seasoned veteran on a club that is 71% new this season.
“I do see myself as a vet,” she said. “I have so much experience that I can share with others and just learn from my mistakes.”
“I want to pour into others the things I wish I had when I was younger. I didn’t have any vets to help me when I was younger. I will always speak up; I’m always here for questions.”
Coffey said it also helps to have excellent role models, including her father and her mother Sheba, a local realtor and success coach, and her brother Amir, a former Gopher and current NBA player, among her support system.
“One thing I will say that helped me so much,” Coffey said, “I had an amazing foundation with people who supported me. I love basketball.”
FINALLY …
Former Gopher Janey Sanders, who played a season as a graduate student in 2023-24, is a member of the Charlotte Crown of the new four-team UpStart League, which started play this month.
Two siblings ruled track and field last week:
Yolanda Nabwe took the Summit League heptathlon title with a personal-best 5,308 points for North Dakota State.
Meanwhile, her older sister Anthonett won the Big Ten hammer throw title.
Her fourth conference title.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses at challman@spokesman-recorder.com.