Adelaide Lightning’s US recruit Nia Coffey follows in her father’s NBA footsteps in debut WNBL season
NIA Coffey might have grown up dreaming of a professional basketball career given her father played in the NBA. But Adelaide Lightning’s US recruit targeted success in another sport before pursuing hoops glory.
NIA Coffey might have grown up dreaming of a professional basketball career given her father played in the NBA.
But Adelaide Lightning’s US recruit targeted glory in athletics, not hoops, as a youngster in Minnesota, excelling over 100m, 200m and 400m.
“At a young age, I actually thought I was going to run track and receive a scholarship for college,” said Coffey, whose Dad, Richard, played for Minnesota Timberwolves in 1990/91.
“My older sister and younger brother caught the basketball bug at a younger age. They would always go to the gym (to practice) with Dad and I felt left out, so I decided to go with them and that’s how it started.
“My Dad started to see that all my siblings had an opportunity to play (basketball) in college and we started to get a little bit more serious about the sport towards middle school.
“But basketball definitely wasn't my first sport of choice.”
Coffey has made an impressive start to her WNBL career, averaging nearly 15 points and 11 rebounds per game since joining Adelaide. The small forward, who was taken at pick five in the 2017 WNBA draft, said the chance to work under Lightning coach Chris Lucas led her to Australia.
But the Las Vegas Aces young gun still sought advice from her father, who recorded 52 NBA games before playing in Turkey, Spain and Japan.
“He has definitely helped me to develop my game,” Coffey, 23, said.
“Whenever I’m back home, we always go back to the gym to work out.
“He also helps me to understand the game better, watching film and understanding how I can always be productive no matter what my role is. But so far I’ve had a really great experience (at the Lightning).
“I really wanted the opportunity to develop and work on my skills because sometimes that can be a little difficult (in the WNBA) where you’re always expected to perform.
“I talked to Chris and I could tell from our first conversation that he was a great person, a man of his word and he’s a great coach and leader.”
Basketball success runs deep through Coffey’s family.
Her older sister, Sydney, played college hoops for Marist in New York, while her younger brother, Amir, was in his third year with the University of Minnesota.
The 185cm talent had settled quickly in Adelaide, but was missing her two-year-old morkipoo dog, Miko, who her family was sending daily photos of to her phone.
Coffey was confident the Lightning had the weapons to rebound from back-to-back defeats against Bendigo Spirit at Adelaide Arena on Sunday (3pm tip-off).
“We’ve lost because of mistakes we’ve inflicted on ourselves,” said Coffey, who hoped to help Adelaide to its first post-season since 2013. “That’s a great thing, because once we fix those issues then we’ll find ourselves in a better position.
“Because we play so fast, we’re very versatile as individuals ... so I think we can beat any team in this league.
“It’s not going to be easy, but I definitely think it’s very doable for us.”
WNBL
ADELAIDE LIGHTNING v BENDIGO SPIRIT
Adelaide Arena, Sunday, 3pm
Possible teams:
ADELAIDE
Aimie Clydesdale
Nia Coffey
Nicole Seekamp
Lauren Nicholson
Colleen Planeta
BENDIGO
Rebecca Tobin
Nadeen Payne
Natalie Hurst
Abbey Wehrung
Marena Whittle