On and off the court, Incarnate Word grad and WNBA superstar Napheesa “Phee” Collier is soaring to new heights.

by Gerald Dlubala

Star WNBA Minnesota Lynx captain Napheesa Collier may have a home in St. Louis but she doesn’t get back as much as she’d like. Nevertheless, the city still has a hold on her.

Napheesa's high school basketball journey began in Jefferson City, playing for Jefferson City High School and for the Lady Warriors, an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team Collier’s parents started since the existing team had a full roster. Before her sophomore year, the Collier family moved to St. Louis for Napheesa’s mother’s job in hospital administration and Napheesa transferred to Incarnate Word Academy for her remaining three years of high school. There she shattered records and gained national recognition as a standout basketball star.

Feeling Welcome In St. Louis

"Moving to St. Louis during my sophomore year of high school was a turning point in my life, both on and off the court,” Napheesa says. “The city welcomed my family and me with open arms and I quickly found a home there. I’ll always be grateful for how it shaped me as an athlete and a person. It’s a place I will always hold close to my heart.

“Some of my favorite St. Louis memories come from playing high school basketball. Winning three state championships at Incarnate Word Academy was incredible, and the support from the students and faculty made it so meaningful."

Those three state championships came with many personal accolades for Napheesa. Along with being the stats leader for the school, she was named a McDonald's All-American, the Gatorade Player of the Year, and the Jordan Brand All-American. She had her choice of colleges and she chose the University of Connecticut (UConn) and the nation’s most high profile and winningest women’s college basketball coach, Geno Auriemma. When Napheesa traveled home when Connecticut played against the Saint Louis University Lady Billikens, Incarnate Word Academy surprised her with a one-of-a-kind ceremony.

“A few years ago, my jersey was retired at Incarnate Word Academy," Collier says. "It was an honor I never expected. It meant the world to me. It's a reminder of the hard work at the beginning of my basketball journey and how far that has brought me. I hope it can set an example for the next generation of young players."

“She’s the first and only athlete at Incarnate Word to have had a jersey retired,” Incarnate Word Academy varsity basketball coach Dan Rolfes says. "It was fantastic. It was a great night for everyone."

Lasting Impressions Led to a Lasting Legacy

Napheesa made an immediate impression on St. Louis’ high school basketball scene and especially on Rolfes, who lives just minutes away from Napheesa and her husband, Alex Bazzell’s, St. Louis home. The couple has a daughter, Mila Sarah Bazzell.

Collier on the sidelines with Coach Rolfes.

“I grew up very near Alex’s childhood home and have known him since he was just a little kid,” Rolfes says. “I've known him for a long time on a different level, and with him being Napheesa’s husband now, it’s just weird how that all happened.”

Napheesa still stays in touch with Rolfes and he remains as impressed with her today as he was the first time he saw her on the court in high school.

"I knew that she was an outstanding player from seeing and playing against her during her freshman year in Jefferson City,” Rolfes says. “I knew about her tremendous quality of play from Incarnate Word playing against her several times and from our scouting. I vividly remember Napheesa playing her first game with us on one of our allowed summer contact days, which included tournaments and shootouts. After watching her, I turned to my assistant coach and told him we would win state that year. It was literally her first weekend ever playing with us and that was the impact she was having on our team and our players.”

Rolfes said that everyone knew Napheesa as an amazing player but they didn't realize how amazing she was off the court.

“She never talked about wanting to be an All-American or about wanting to go to UConn for college basketball or anything personal like that,” Rolfes recalls. “Napheesa is one of the most humble people I know, and most of the time, she didn't even want to talk about basketball. She never sought attention for herself or talked about her achievements. And it’s not because she wasn’t driven to be the best player she could be, because she was. It's just that she wasn't in your face about it, always letting her play on the court speak for her and the kind of person she was. She really is unbelievably nice and humble, so much so that I can tell you that when she played other teams and scored her normal 30-plus points with numerous rebounds, that team would want to take pictures with her after the game. It was because, yes, she was a special player, but she was also a good, humble person. You know, people are often turned off by success, but it's hard to dislike her or what she does. That speaks volumes when we see many great athletes constantly seeking attention and concerning themselves with social media stats.”

Rolfes says that the normal pregame routine was to see Napheesa sitting quietly before games in the locker room, reading a murder mystery novel. She is and always has been an avid reader.

In 2019, Collier was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx as the sixth overall pick in the WNBA draft. In her first year on the team she was named Rookie of the Year and made her first All-Star appearance. She’s also won two Olympic gold medals, first in Tokyo in 2020 and then Paris in 2024. Currently, Napheesa is a vice president on the Women’s National Basketball Players Association’s executive committee

Rolfes got to attend Game 4 of the 2024 WNBA finals in Minnesota and have dinner with the players’ families. Rolfes says Napheesa is just the same as when he coached her in high school.

Now A League Co-Owner, Collier Continues Her Legacy with Unrivaled

Napheesa, along with star New York Liberty power forward Breanna Stewart (and fellow UConn alumna), are co-founders of a new professional women’s league named Unrivaled. This new league will allow female players to earn money in the offseason while being able to stay in the United States rather than travel abroad.

“It’s something that’s definitely outside the box," Rolfes says. "For her and so many good players, they've traditionally had to spend their offseason overseas playing to continue to make money throughout the year. This new league allows Napheesa and a lot of the other star players to stay in the States and do what they love to do. Their window of time playing is so short that they have to maximize it. Unrivaled provides WNBA players the opportunity to continue playing and earning money during the offseason while staying closer to home.”

Unrivaled features a 3 v 3 concept on a shorter, but still full, court. Focusing on skill, it provides an action-packed format with a roster of household WNBA names. Rolfes believes it will quickly become a fan and spectator favorite. And after next year, when other players' overseas contracts end, Napheesa says that Unrivaled will feature even more WNBA stars.

“It really is an awesome concept,” Rolfes says. “I had the opportunity to go and watch some of our players from Incarnate Word Academy test the rules, theory, and concepts of the Unrivaled 3 vs. 3 format. The players absolutely loved it, and as a spectator, it was so much fun to watch. The full but shorter court, with fewer players, forces players to focus on movement, ball skills and quick decision-making. I really expect that people will want to follow the league and enjoy watching it, especially with the caliber of the players involved. With the career numbers Napheesa has put up in the last couple of years, she has built quite the following, so other WNBA stars were ready to join her in doing this rather than traveling overseas to play. And next year is looking to be even bigger with additional WNBA participants."

Rolfes hesitated when asked about Napheesa's most significant accomplishment at Incarnate Word Academy.

"There's just so much she accomplished that you can't pinpoint one thing,” he said. “I mean, she was a McDonald’s All-American, the Gatorade Player of the Year, the Jordan Brand All-American, and received many other awards. But Napheesa’s legacy and how she will forever be remembered is how she treated everyone on the team and around her. She’s one of the most humble people that you’ll ever meet. She's such an amazing person, and everyone loves her. It’s very easy to always root for a person like Napheesa. She is an example of how we should all be.”