The 'Cats currently project to have two alumni in the league when the WNBA season tips off next month.
The highest-drafted Northwestern Wildcat in WNBA history is headed from Atlanta to Minneapolis.
Forward Nia Coffey has reportedly agreed to a two-year contract with the Minnesota Lynx, according to ESPN's Kendra Andrews. The 30-year-old will be paid more than the veteran minimum contract.
Minnesota did not release the terms of the deal, per team policy.
The upcoming WNBA season will mark Coffey's 10th in the league, coming off a year in which she played all 44 games for the Dream. The 6-foot-1 forward averaged 3.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game, and made two starts. Atlanta was a first-round exit to the Indiana Fever in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs.
Coffey racked up numerous awards and honors during her prestigious Northwestern career. She became the first player in program history to earn All-Big Ten First Team recognition in all four seasons, and as a junior in 2015-16 and a senior in 2016-17, Coffey was named an All-American honorable mention.
The Northwestern record book is littered with her name as well. Coffey ranks first all-time in rebounds (1,183) and second in points (2,287) and blocks (229). She holds the single-season record for rebounding and tied Amy Jaeschke for the most shots made (15) and attempted (26) in a single game during the Joe McKeown era.
Sep 8, 2025; College Park, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Dream forward Nia Coffey (12) dribbles the ball in the game against the Connecticut Sun during the second quarter at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn ImagesCoffey was selected fifth overall in the 2017 WNBA Draft by the San Antonio Stars, which relocated to become today's Las Vegas Aces one year later. She is one of two ex-Wildcats to be drafted in the first round (Veronica Burton, 2022) and one of four former Northwestern stars to be picked in the WNBA Draft (Jaeschke, 2011, and Lindsey Pulliam, 2021).
After spending two seasons with the Stars/Aces, Coffey played one season apiece for the Dream, Mercury and Sparks. She returned to Atlanta in 2022, where she appeared in 131 games over four years.
Coffey, who will turn 31 years old in June, is a native of Minneapolis and attended Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota. The Lynx have been the No. 1 overall seed in each of the past two postseasons, led by MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier, though they've fallen short of their title aspirations. Minnesota has not won a championship since its dynastic run in the early 2010s, when the Lynx claimed four titles in seven years.
The Lynx's regular season will begin on Saturday, May 10, when Coffey faces off against her former team, the Atlanta Dream.