Lynden’s Kooiman to take passion for basketball to NNU

Elisa Kooiman has a lot of passion for the game of basketball. She’s found teammates and coaches equally as passionate at Lynden, and now she’s believes she’s found more with the Northwest Nazarene women’s basketball team.

Last week, the senior 5-foot-11 guard signed her national letter of intent to play for the NCAA Division II program in Nampa, Idaho.

“The passion for the game was there,” Kooiman said. “They have people there that are going to push me go get better. I think it’s going to be like my high school team, even better.”

Kooiman said she chose the Crusaders over a number of other D-II schools, including Seattle Pacific, Western Washington and Azusa Pacific.

“I think they’re a program on the rise,” Kooiman said of NNU. “I think I can have a good impact on the team. Hopefully I’ll get minutes as freshman. I don’t want to say anything, because I’ve got to earn my spot.”

Kooiman said the most difficult part of the decision was leaving her extended, supportive family, but she’s excited to be able to return to the area with annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference games at SPU, WWU and Simon Fraser.

Having nearly completed her first two years of studies through Running Start, Kooiman said she plans to major in education, an area the school excels.

“NNU is a real good fit for me spiritually, academically and athletically,” Kooiman said. “I visited in September, and someone told me when it’s the right place, you know right away. I could tell it was right for me. The coaches were great and the girls were really nice.”

Now that her decision is made, Kooiman, who finished second in the Northwest Conference with 18.0 points per game last year, hopes to help Lynden make a run at returning to the Class 2A state title game for a second straight year.

This story was originally published November 18, 2016 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Lynden’s Kooiman to take passion for basketball to NNU."