Amir Coffey and his father, former Gopher Richard Coffey, attended the Gophers scrimmage on Friday night.
Amir Coffey, a 6-foot-5 sophomore wing from Hopkins, is considered the top in-state prospect in the Class of 2016. He recently returned from an injury that kept him sidelined for nearly three months.
Gopher Hole.com caught up with Amir to learn the latest on his early recruitment.
Gopher Hole: When did you get back on the court and start playing?
Amir Coffey: Last Wednesday. It was an open gym and I just got up and down and I did pretty well on it.
Gopher Hole: You have been playing quite a bit since then. Do you feel close to 100%?
Amir Coffey: Yes. Every opportunity to get back on the court and get my groove back.
Gopher Hole: What was the exact injury?
Amir Coffey: Fractured tibia and it was a compound fracture of the growth plate.
Gopher Hole: I know that it happened during the second open period in July. Was that kind of frustrating because you were playing in a tournament in Bloomington and had to miss the Vegas tournament the following week?
Amir Coffey: It was very tough, because we were going to Vegas that following Tuesday and that is the best tournament that we play in. I really wanted to play in that and it was unfortunate that I got hurt at the time.
Gopher Hole: Have you had a decent number of schools come out to Hopkins for open gyms?
Amir Coffey: We had a couple. Creighton and Iowa State. Other than that, I talked to coaches on the phone.
Gopher Hole: How many offers are you up to right now?
Amir Coffey: I am at six. Penn State, Iowa State, Creighton, Indiana, Miami and Minnesota.
Gopher Hole: You obviously have to be very proud of that, only going into your sophomore season?
Amir Coffey: Very proud.
Gopher Hole: What other schools are you hearing from besides those six?
Amir Coffey: Wisconsin, Duke, Baylor. Get down to campus soon and we talk to the coaches a lot.
Gopher Hole: Have you had a chance to go to any college football games yet this fall?
Amir Coffey: Not yet. We are going to start planning it soon.
Gopher Hole: What things are you really working on to continue to improve yourself as a player?
Amir Coffey: Right now, since coming off an injury, just my stamina and shoot as much as I can to get my jumper back. Dribbling and all that.
Gopher Hole: To be honest, it looks like you have even gotten a little bit taller since the last time I saw you. Is that right?
Amir Coffey: At the measurements, they said 6-6 ½ and 180 pounds.
Gopher Hole: What are the expectations for you at Hopkins? Obviously, it looks like you have got a lot of long, athletic players, but you don’t have a lot of bulk.
Amir Coffey: Hopefully, win state. We are not going to settle for anything less. We are going to play as hard as we can and the outcome is, hopefully, we can win state. The expectations are very high for us and I hope that we succeed.
Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from the home state school?
Amir Coffey: We have been talking a lot. I have been talking to Ben (Johnson) and Pitino. We talk on the phone from time to time. They want me to come down to a practice or get up to campus. I think that we will be doing that soon.
Gopher Hole: You were at the Gopher scrimmage Friday. What was that like?
Amir Coffey: It was a good experience to see the team and after the game, we went to the locker room and talked to all the players. It was fun.
Gopher Hole: What it nice to finally see their style of play?
Amir Coffey: It was up-tempo, which I like playing. It was just fun going out there and watching the team play.
Gopher Hole: Is that a style of play that you could see yourself fitting in down the road?
Amir Coffey: Definitely, because I love playing up-tempo and that is what they do, so it is definitely where I fit in.