Nooksack Valley senior girls basketball player Devin Coppinger, a four-star recruit, has committed to the University of Washington women’s basketball program, she announced via social media on Monday, Aug. 21.
The 5-foot-11 guard is currently ranked No. 37 in the nation by ESPN’s top 100 rankings of 2024 women’s basketball recruits with a 95 scouts’ grade.
Coppinger had offers from more than 20 NCAA Division I schools, she said, but narrowed her options to UW, Gonzaga University, the University of Oregon and the University of Arizona prior to her commitment.
“I had the opportunity to go further away, but I just knew I wasn’t gonna find what UW had anywhere else,” Coppinger said.
Coppinger said she wasn’t in a rush to commit ahead of her senior season until she took her official visit to UW from Aug. 10–12.
“I had three other [official visits] planned there in September and I canceled them all,” Coppinger said. “The last day of the visit, I committed. I definitely was not planning on committing anytime soon. But, people always say, ‘if it feels like home, you’ll know,’ and I definitely know.”
UW emerged as the school she wanted to attend during the years current WNBA star Kelsey Plum led the Huskies (2013–17), Coppinger said, and she will now have a chance to help rebuild a program that is coming off its first winning season since 2016–17. The arrival of head coach Tina Langley in 2021 also nudged Coppinger in UW’s direction, she said.
“Ever since Tina came, I’ve just loved everything they’re about and she’s been so great,” Coppinger added. “Their culture and just the girls and everyone that’s involved in the program is just 100 percent committed, and it’s just something I wanted to be involved in.”
A two-time Northwest Conference Player of the Year, Coppinger led Nooksack Valley to its first-ever 1A state championship — a 43-36 win over Whatcom County rival Lynden Christian — as a junior in 2022–23 after losing the title game the year prior. She averaged 22.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists during the regular season.
Coppinger also plays volleyball in the fall, and last season she helped the Pioneers to a 16-8 record and fifth-place finish in the 1A state tournament.
