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Nicki Collen
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Baylor
Conference	Big 12
Record	76–29 (.724)
Biographical details
Born	May 13, 1975 (age 49); Indiana, U.S.
Playing career
1993–1995	Purdue
1995–1997	Marquette
1997	BCM Alexandros
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2001–2003	Colorado State (assistant)
2003	Ball State (assistant)
2003–2005	Louisville (assistant)
2011–2014	Arkansas (assistant)
2014–2015	Florida Gulf Coast (assistant)
2015–2017	Connecticut Sun (assistant)
2018–2020	Atlanta Dream
2021–present	Baylor
Head coaching record
Overall	76–29 (.724) (NCAA); 38–52 (.422) (WNBA)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
	Big 12 regular season (2022);
Awards
	WNBA Coach of the Year (2018);

Nicki Collen (née Taggart; born May 13, 1975) is an American basketball coach and is currently the head women's basketball coach at Baylor University.

Early life

Collen was born in Indiana and her family moved to Platteville, Wisconsin when she was 10 years old. While living in Wisconsin, Collen attended basketball camps with Bo Ryan.^[1]

Playing career

Collen began her playing career at Purdue, where she was on a team that made consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 1994 and 1995 and won consecutive Big 10 Championships. During her junior year, she transferred to Marquette, where she led the team to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. She earned all conference honors while at Marquette and was ranked third nationally in assists during her senior season.^[2] After her college career, Collen played one year of professional basketball in Greece with BCM Alexandros.^[3]

College career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
Bold	Career best	°	League leader


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PPG
1993–94	Purdue	28	-	-	22.2	0.0	69.2	0.6	0.8	0.6	0.1	-	0.8
1994–95	Purdue	28	-	-	22.7	18.2	53.8	0.6	1.2	0.3	0.0	-	0.9
1995–96	Sat out due to NCAA transfer rules
1996–97	Marquette	31	-	-	31.9	23.9	81.5	2.8	6.6	1.9	0.3	-	6.8
1997–98	Marquette	29	-	-	38.1	37.4	72.0	2.7	7.4	1.6	0.1	-	9.8
Career		116	-	-	34.5	32.2	74.0	1.7	4.1	1.1	0.1	-	4.7
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.^[4]

Coaching career

Collen began her coaching career at Colorado State as an assistant. After her tenure there, she was an assistant at Ball State, Louisville, and Arkansas, before moving to Florida Gulf Coast. While at Florida Gulf Coast, she helped the 2014–2015 team to a historic 31–3 record.^[5] Collen coached under Curt Miller with the Connecticut Sun after her time as a college assistant. Collen helped the Sun turn around from a 14–20 finish in 2016 to a 21–13 record in 2017.^[6]

On October 30, 2017, Collen was announced as the head coach of the Atlanta Dream. Collen took over for Michael Cooper after the Dream finished 12–22 in 2017.^[7]

Atlanta Dream

Collen led the Dream to a slow start; posting a 2–2 record in May and a 5–6 record in June. June was an up and down month, with the team winning on the road against the Seattle Storm, but giving the Indiana Fever their second win of the season. July saw the team find its form. The Dream posted a 9–2 record, which was tied for the best record in the league. The run moved the team from 9th in the standings to 2nd. Collen led the team on an eight-game win streak including a perfect 4–0 record on the road. For her efforts, Collen was named WNBA Coach of the Month for July.^[8] Collen was again selected WNBA Coach of the Month in August. She led the Dream to a 7–1 record, which secured them the number 2 seed in the playoffs and a bye to the semifinals. The team's only loss was to Phoenix on the road.^[9] The team finished with a 23–11 record, a franchise best.

On August 28, 2018, it was announced that Collen was selected the WNBA Coach of the Year. She received 37 of 39 possible votes for the award. She is the second Dream coach to win the award.^[10]

Baylor Bears

On May 3, 2021, Collen was hired as the head coach at Baylor following Kim Mulkey's departure to LSU.^[11]

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win–loss %
Playoffs	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW–L %	Playoff win–loss %


Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW–L%	Result
ATL	2018	34	23	11	.676	1st in East	5	2	3	.400	Lost in WNBA Semi-Finals
ATL	2019	34	8	26	.235	6th in East	—	—	—	—	Did not qualify
ATL	2020	22	7	15	.318	4th in East	—	—	—	—	Did not qualify
Career		90	38	52	.422		5	2	3	.400

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Baylor Bears (Big 12 Conference) (2021–present)
2021–22	Baylor	28–7	15–3	1st	NCAA Second Round
2022–23	Baylor	20–13	10–8	T–4th	NCAA Second Round
2023–24	Baylor	26–8	12–6	T–4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2024–25	Baylor	11–2	1–0
Baylor:		85–30 (.739)	38–17 (.691)
Total:		85–30 (.739)

Personal life

Collen is married to basketball coach Tom Collen. The couple have three children.^[7] The two met when Tom was an assistant at Purdue when she played there and then he later hired her as his assistant at Colorado State. They married in 2001 and she served as his assistant at Louisville and Arkansas.^[12]