Gophers’ Pitino scores prized in-state recruit: Amir Coffey

As Amir Coffey, senior, and University of Minnesota commit, took the basketball up the court with only a couple seconds left in the AAAA State Championship game, he knew this was the perfect way to end his high school basketball career.

“It’s just a surreal feeling. It was my first state championship, and to do it as a senior is just really cool, and we got the win,” Coffey said.

Named Minnesota Mr. Basketball, Coffey was a key member of the Royals basketball team. He began playing Varsity his freshman year and continued to improve until Tuesday, Dec. 2, when the Royals hosted Burnsville. Coffey went up for a rebound and came down hard as he collided with Vinnie Shahid, senior.

As a result, Coffey suffered a couple of self healing fractures, a sprained MCL, and a torn ACL all in the same leg.

“Amir was hurt the whole year. To miss a year and then come back, he’s a kid that really worked hard to improve himself coming off the injury,” said Mr. Ken Novak, Head Coach.

Although Coffey missed a majority of the season his junior year, Minnesota Golden Gophers Men’s basketball Head Coach Richard Pitino wasn’t concerned.

“I mean obviously whenever injuries happen you have to look into it, but we felt comfortable that he would recover and that he would be healthy. I think that’s one of the reasons why maybe we were attractive to Amir because we stuck with him,” Pitino said. “It’s easier to do that when you’re local, but we knew he would come back healthy because of his commitment to the game and the task he was doing. We stayed loyal to him, and I’m happy we did.”

The leg injuries weren’t enough to stop Coffey from returning strongly. In his senior season, Coffey averaged 19.9 ppg. During State Coffey averaged 14.3 ppg including a 19 point outing in his final game as a Royal to help the Royals win the State Title.

“One of my favorite high school career moments was the game winner against Shakopee in the State semi-finals a few years back. But what I’m most proud of is that we just won the State Title,” Coffey said.

A key to success for Coffey was his coaches. He said Novak especially has helped him prepare for the Division 1 level.

“[Coach Novak] has done a pretty good job developing us as a team and as individuals,” Coffey said. “He does a lot of skill work with us in practice: shooting, dribbling, reading screens, and things that you will need at the next level.”

Novak believes that Coffey has been preparing for the D1 level since he was young. He also thinks his offense gives Amir the opportunity to play any position on the floor in the D1 level.

“Amir has been working at this for a long time; he’s spending time trying to get stronger; he’s been playing AAU; he’s been playing all year-round, and all of these things have helped him prepare for the next level,” Novak said. “We run a pretty sophisticated style of offense in the sense that all kids do a little of everything. One of Amir’s strength is his ability to play in the post and on the outside running the point. He played multiple positions for us and I think it will help him in the future.”

Coffey had many offers from perennial NCAA Tournament teams, including Arizona, Baylor, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Marquette, Michigan State, Penn State, Purdue, Texas, Wisconsin, and many others. After a lot of time and thought, on Sept. 21, 2015, Coffey committed to the University of Minnesota.

“Amir was a guy that we set out to recruit since day one,” Pitino said. “We’ve tried to develop a relationship with his whole family for a long time. Richard [Amir’s father], obviously being a former Gopher player, was someone we talked to a lot, and Shiba [Amir’s mother] is such a great mother and such a great influence on all of her kids.”

Coffey believes that the relationship he formed with the Gophers staff and Pitino ultimately made him want to go to the U.

“They [contacted] me when I was a freshman and Tubby Smith [Ex-Gopher basketball Head Coach] was there, and then Coach Pitino called me the first day after he accepted the job,” Coffey said. “I knew they were pretty interested right away, and I don’t remember a day where I wasn’t talking to them. Also, my first visit [to the U] went great.”

For Pitino, getting a prized in-state commit is crucial.

“I think recruiting in-state is extremely important, especially in the Big Ten. There are so many schools that are state schools like Iowa and Wisconsin. It’s crucial whenever you have good players in the state that you’ve got to get them,” Pitino said. “In the 2016 class, we set our sights on two guys and they were Amir and Michael Hurt [Rochester John Marshall] and we got both of those guys.”

But, Pitino isn’t just excited about the fact that Coffey is an in-state commit.

“[Getting a tall guard] excites me. In our system our 3 and our 2 are very similar 3 runs the left side 2 runs the right, but our 1,2,3 all work off of ball screens so he needs to have the ball in his hands to play off a ball screen. In our offense none of that really matters where you’re at as long as you’re not playing the 4 which Amir won’t do,” Pitino said. “I love the fact that he can see over the defense. In ‘pick and roll’ situations he’s a phenomenal passer as good as any passer out there. I am excited about some of the matchup problems that he is going to create because when [a player] is a 6’7” guard [they’re] a tough cover.”

Although, Coffey won’t be the only HHS alumnus suiting up at the Barn during the 2016-2017 season. He will join Stephan Sharp, 2014 HHS alumnus, started four games for the Gophers during his freshman season. Sharp posted double-digits scoring in three of the four games.

Coffey is excited to play with Sharp once again. This time in maroon and gold.

“It’s always fun to play alongside people you know, and I’ve known Steph a long time. It’s going to be fun to get out on the court with him and play,” Coffey said.

Coach Pitino is glad to have Steph on the team next year. Especially so he can take Coffey under his wing.

“Steph is a very good leader, and I want him to take more of a leadership role this year,” Pitino said. “Having him on the team will really allow Amir to get comfortable with the team and his teammates much faster as he already knows Steph and has played alongside him before.”

Before heading to campus next year, Coffey has a few things on his to-do list. Including bulking up and working on his jump shot.

“He has to put on some weight. I think right now he’s at 180 and we would like him to put on 10 pounds,” Pitino said. “He also needs to work on a more consistent jump shot. It’s definitely improved every year, but it always needs a refreshment and more than anything it’s committing to defense. Every freshman really seems to struggle with that when they step on campus, and it will probably be no different for Amir. [He needs] an understanding of all that stuff, but we expect Amir to come to the U and make an impact right away.”