Team comes before self for Koker
Then-freshman guard Chelby Koker brings the ball up the court in the Huskies’ Jan. 15 loss to Kent State University at the Convocation Center in 2020. (Araya Venegas/Northern Star)
Junior guard Chelby Koker of the NIU women’s basketball team is the most encouraging and passionate player a team could ask for.
Koker grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, about 119 miles north of DeKalb. She is the youngest of three siblings. Her older siblings played sports, which led to her journey to play sports at a young age.
“I was on my brother’s basketball team in kindergarten because they didn’t have enough players,” Koker said. “My dad told me to be ready and bring my stuff, and the next thing I knew, I was in the game.”
Hopping the Illinois-Wisconsin border
Fast forward years later, Koker is the starting point guard for the NIU Huskies. She chose to come to NIU because she enjoyed talking to the coaches, who made her feel comfortable. Head coach Lisa Carlsen was the one who recruited her.
“I loved the way she played with pace and pushed the ball up the floor, and that’s what we are looking for in our next point guard,” Carlsen said. “We need somebody that could score at all three levels and that’s what we got and more.”
Carlsen touched on how important Koker is to the team because they put the ball in her hands and trust her to make decisions. Koker has a lot of responsibility, but she wants that responsibility because she knows what the team needs to win.
“Chelby is a person who spends a great amount of time perfecting her skill,” Carlsen said. “She’s in the gym all the time and studying film to see what other teams are trying to do defensively on her.”
Carlsen describes Koker as a student of the game who puts in the work daily to become a great player.
Koker has gotten better individually by scoring the basketball at all three levels. She took a big jump in her freshman to sophomore year, raising her average points per game from 8.2 to 21.1. With three years of college experience under her belt, she has a great understanding of the Mid-American Conference and what the team needs.
Koker expressed that the most important thing she thinks about going into games is getting her mind right. She thinks about how she can take care of the ball and take good shots for herself and her teammates. My dad told me to be ready and bring my stuff, and the next thing I knew, I was in the game. — Junior guard Chelby Koker
Her teammate and best friend, Paulina Castro, expressed what kind of teammate Koker is.
“She’s a leader on the court in terms of how she always has the ball in her hand, leading her teammates to be in good positions on the court,” Castro said. “She leads by example by putting in so much work and encourages other people to get in the gym with her.”
Although Koker is a great basketball player, basketball is not the main focus. She is majoring in pre-physical therapy and will apply for the master’s program before graduating and becoming a physical therapist is the goal.
“I’m not sure if playing overseas or professional basketball is the thing that I wanna do right now,” Koker said. “It’s a thing I’m open to if the opportunity presents itself.”
Koker and Castro make tie-dye sets and wear them to home games in her free time. They started making tie-dye sets during quarantine and people soon expressed interest in buying their own. They would start their business “P & Chel DIYs” and sell them.
She says that her favorite players are Chicago Sky guard Allie Quigley and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
Koker’s role model growing up was Ray Lin D’Alie. D’Alie went to the University of Wisconsin and coached at one of the first clubs Koker was in when she was younger. The main reason she looked up to her was that she was from Wisconsin just like her.
Koker reached the 1,000 point milestone on Jan. 24 in a home game against the University of Akron. “ I feel blessed to reach this milestone and want to thank my teammates and coaching staff for putting me in a position to get to where I am today.” She currently has 1,036 points.
While winning MAC player of the year is something Koker thinks about, her team winning games is more important to her.
“It’s a goal to win MAC player of the year, but I want to win the MAC Championship for the team,” Koker said. “If I were to win the MAC player of the year, I would be honored and blessed but I’m not gonna let that get in my head. I wanna play and win games.”
Koker sustained a season-ending knee injury during Wednesday’s game against Kent State University and will be out for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. She averaged 17.8 points per game, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists. Koker will return for her senior season, keep improving her game, and hopes to turn the Huskies into championship contenders.
