Amir Coffey is Having a Great Year, and He's Doing it Quietly

Photo Credit: Big Ten Network

When he’s not flying around the court, throwing down two-handed slams or stroking 3-point shots, freshman Amir Coffey is rarely the center of attention. The 6-foot-8 guard, while standing a head taller than most, prefers to shrink into the background in most social situations.

But don’t let his silence confuse you. He’s the highest-scoring Gophers freshman since Kris Humphries, and he’s letting his play do the talking.

A big-game player

In Coffey’s first Big Ten game, a home test against Michigan State, the freshman was given the ball as the clock wound down in a tie game. He dribbled from the right wing, settled at the right elbow and unleashed a potential game-winning jumper.

It came up short.

Coffey finished with 17 points in the overtime loss but got his first taste of the physical, often pulse-pounding Big Ten. Averaging 12.5 points in conference games, Coffey has been one of the team’s most reliable players in pressure-packed games, even though he’d love to have a mulligan on that elbow jumper.

In addition to his 17 points against the Spartans back on Dec. 27, he scored 19 against Wisconsin and 11 in the first half against Maryland at The Barn.

A day will come – probably sooner than later – when he’s asked to take another shot in the final moments. Pitino sees the clutch gene in Coffey and attributes it to his mental toughness. “He never seems fazed by [big moments] at all,” said Pitino on Jan. 27 before the Maryland game. “I said before, we’ve played 21 games, and he looked like a freshman in maybe two of them. And that’s not necessarily that he has to score 20, 30 points, but he’s poised. When it’s time to make a big play he can do it. Doesn’t shy away from it.”

Shy is the operative word with Coffey. He’s not a big talker – he’ll leave those duties to Akeem Springs and Nate Mason. He readily deflects credit and pays it forward to his teammates. On the court, he’s stone-faced, only emoting occasionally thunderous dunks. According to Springs, whenever Coffey lets out a celebratory shriek, it catches his teammates off guard. “Amir never celebrates,” said Springs.

Springs recounted one tale of Coffey barely saying hello when the two met for the first time last summer (the freshman sat next to Springs during the telling, blushing all the while). Coffey also gets uncomfortable answering too many questions, whether it’s the prying media or a mischievous head coach. “I almost jokingly bring him into my office and just ask him like 20 questions that have nothing to do with anything and just hearing him so uncomfortable, and he’s like, ‘Please stop asking me questions,’” Pitino said.

“I’m a quiet guy if I don’t know you,” Coffey said with a grin.

A freshman dynamo

Perhaps the local recruit is focused on activities besides socializing, like basketball. A starter from Day 1, Coffey was armed with uncanny court vision that made him one of the team’s best passers. During a stretch of nonconference games against Georgia Southern, Northern Illinois and Arkansas State, Coffey scored just 19 combined points – but totaled 16 assists on the side. He had already shown his scoring knack with six consecutive double-figure games to start the season, including 30 points against St. John’s in a win.

Coffey’s biggest weakness early in the season appeared to be shooting the basketball. He was 6-of-22 (27 percent) from long range in November. That dropped to a meager 1-of-12 (8 percent) in six December games. But since the calendar turned to 2017, Coffey has made 50 percent of his 30 3-point shots.

“He’s a shot-maker,” said Pitino. “He’s not a great shooter just yet, but when he shoots I expect it to go in, and a lot of that has to do with his mental toughness. He wants to take the big shot. He believes it’s going in.”

Coffey is no stranger to tense moments, having played in multiple Minnesota State Basketball Tournaments at the Target Center. Coffey won the title as a senior at Hopkins High School. Two years prior, he hit a half-court shot in the fourth overtime against Shakopee to advance to the championship game.

Big-game players thrive in great environments, which is what the Gophers have produced at Williams Arena thus far. Coffey has over 16 points per game in his home gym and has pumped the decibel level off the charts with some of his finer moves. “The fans give us energy,” Coffey said. “When we make plays, they’re loud for us, and it just keeps us going. It keeps us energized. We kind of feed off that.”

Someday Coffey will be asked to be the team’s vocal and emotional leader. Someday he’ll be entrusted with more chances at game-winning shots. He plans to put on weight and improve his ball-handling in the offseason and will come back as one of the most promising sophomores in the league next year.

But this season, as the Gophers claw their way toward a potential NCAA Tournament berth, Coffey is a key cog in it all, quietly going about his business.

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