Thursday afternoon college basketball accolades began spilling out and every list mentioned Georgetown College men’s basketball’s Chris Coffey.
Friday it seems will be more of the same. The National Association of Basketball Coaches announced the 6-foot-7 forward as NAIA Division I Player of the Year.
He finishes his career as NABC All-America and Player of the Year as well as NAIA All-America and Player of the Year.
The Louisville, Ky. native plays with pure joy. Rarely have I watched him play without a big grin on his face, no matter what his roster team shots show. The final game he played as a Tiger, he wore two different shoes. When asked why, he said she (referring to me) told me to have fun.
His motor has one speed – on. In the Mid-South Conference tournament championship game, he got six steals – which was a new career-high. This was a demonstration of his willingness and passion to do whatever his team needed.
Coffey added 24 points and seven rebounds as Georgetown finished MSC play as regular season and tournament champions for the second straight season. The Tigers then decisively – eight of the nine first place votes – finished the season as No. 1.
For his senior campaign, Coffey led the nation in defensive rebounds per game (9.3), rebounds per game (12.7) and total rebounds (407). He was second in field goal percentage (63.9), sixth in offensive rebounds per game (3.4), 34th in blocks (31) and 39th in blocks per game (1.0). He tallied 20 double-doubles (second best in the nation), while recording new career game-highs in rebounds (24), assists (6), steals (6), blocks (7) and points (33).
Coffey signed with Georgetown in 2015 and played as a true freshman on a team that advanced to the championship game, falling short on an overtime, buzzer-beater. He had three double-doubles that season in 33 games, playing down low with NAIA Player of the Year Deondre McWhorter.
His sophomore season, he more than doubled his rebound production, finished with 13 double-doubles (best in the MSC) and finished ranked in the Top 25 in six categories.
After a year off, Coffey returned with a vengeance. On the way to helping Georgetown to a second national title in seven seasons, third tournament finals in the same span, the forward grabbed 412 rebounds (second nationally), shot 58 percent (19th nationally) and was ranked in the Top 40 in eight total categories. He tallied a nation’s best 26 double-doubles. Coffey wrapped up his junior campaign by earning NAIA National Tournament MVP and All-America status.
He finishes with 1,500-plus points and 1,200-plus rebounds – only second time a GC men’s basketball player has done that. He is also in Top 10 at Georgetown for career blocks. Coffey finishes with 62 double-doubles.
To tie a bow on who Coffey is, one of my favorite memories will be off the court. After I spent the better part of three weeks training for a 5k on campus, Coffey with his big grin showed up in jean shorts and tank top because he was in his dorm doing summer work. He had no idea the race was going on, but decided to join in the crowd. He did and outpaced most everyone. He did not wait around for awards or any of that, he just, paraphrasing his words, was there to run for the fun of it.