Rachel Coffey heads to Syracuse
Rachel Coffey and her fearless style of point guard play are headed for Syracuse University. The senior from Kingston, N.Y., made her verbal commitment on the heels of her second official visit this past weekend.
"The team, I really like the team," Coffey said of what made her choose Syracuse. "I never got a chance to hang out with them. They really made me like it a lot."
Coffey was hosted on her visit by fellow New Yorker Erica Morrow, whom she remembered watching in high school and during the McDonald's All-American game.
Coffey, the No. 27 prospect in the ESPN HoopGurlz Hundred, is the third player in the 2010 class to commit to Syracuse. She joins Tiara Butler, a 5-foot-10 guard from Waldorf, Md., and Phylesha Bullard, a 5-11 wing from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Coffey's game is centered around her ballhandling ability as she has no problems shaking even the toughest defenders on dribble penetration.
"I thought she developed this year as a player and as a leader of the team," Keith Danzy, her Albany Cityrocks coach said. "She leads by example."
Coffey and Danzy agree the area she needs to improve on the most to be ready to contribute early in her collegiate career is her defense. Both also believe the physical ability that makes her so dynamic offensively should allow her to be a lock-down defender.
According to Danzy, Pitt and Seton Hall were also in the recruiting picture. She liked some programs further away from the Northeast, such as Illinois and Miami. While she doesn't mind being three hours away from home at Syracuse, being a plane ride away was further than she wanted.
ESPN HoopGurlz Evaluation from the Deep South Classic, April 09: Kingston may be a good two hours north of the Big Apple, but why Coffey isn't a bigger deal is a major mystery. Think A.I., not artificial intelligence, but Allen Iverson with a hair clip. She's generously listed at 5-7, but like the male AI, is fearless going to the hoop, with rapid-fire, AK-47 dribble moves and a creative, mainframe mind that strings the moves together in most unexpected fashion. A small crack between defenders? No problem, between the legs, back to front until a blur of a crossover. Coffey has a nasty hesitation off the dribble that puts defenders into suspended animation, allowing her to walk away for pulls. Closing defenders have little recourse against her quick-release threes. We'd love to see her have to defend bigger guards and go through a gauntlet of elite teams during a crowded summer event. We might even pay per view, she's that entertaining.
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Chris Hansen is the National Director of Prospects for ESPN HoopGurlz and covers girls' basketball and women's college-basketball prospects nationally for ESPN.com. A graduate of the University of Washington with a Communications degree, he has been involved in the women's basketball community since 1998 as a high-school and club coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. Hansen can be reached at chris.hansen@espn3.com .
