Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

Guard - Booker Coplin
Augsburg University
2017 - 2020

All-American selections: 2019 (2nd), 2020 (honorable mention)

All-Region selections: 2019 (1st), 2020 (1st)

Conference MVPs: 2019, 2020

Other honors: 2019 NABC Player of the Year

NCAA Tournament appearances: 2017 (second round), 2018 (first round)

From the archives

• Coplin fills stat sheet in Auggies' win (February 2020)
• Coplin scores 38 points as Auggies edge UWRF (November 2019)
• Booker's big game boosts Augsburg to MIAC final (February 2019)

What others say: "Booker is someone who excelled at an extremely high level in the classroom and within our basketball program. He was a tremendous leader in our program based upon his example alone. Everyone around him could observe his constant drive and focus to be better every day. As everyone knows, when your best player is your hardest worker, you have a great chance to maximize your group’s potential. Add to that, his high level charisma and communication skills and you have something special ... you have Booker." – Augsburg coach Aaron Griess

In their own words: "My college career was a memorable one because of more than the accomplishments and awards I received, but because of the people I had around me during my time at Augsburg. The people of the Auggie community who were just my teammates, coaches, trainers, and all other supporters became a part of my family. I feel honored to be considered among the best, and achieve some success from all the hard work I have put in throughout my life. In no way would I be able to reach these goals without the support of those that helped me in even minor ways."

Where are they now: Coplin is recovering from surgery from an injury suffered after his senior year and is focused on playing professionally. While recovering, he is an assistant varsity men's basketball coach at Prior Lake (Minn.) HS.

Career synopsis: At the end of his freshman year, Booker Coplin didn't look like he was going to finish his career anywhere near this list. He had just been held scoreless in 19 minutes over two games off the bench in the NCAA Tournament and finished his season averaging 3.0 points and 2.0 rebounds. For UW-River Falls. Coplin had turned down an invitataion to be a preferred walk-on at D-I North Dakota State to go across the border to Wisconsin. But he didn't last there, as much for academics as anything else. He settled on a major, one Augsburg had and UWRF did not, and the match seemed perfect both on the court and off. The photo of Coplin at the top of the page is basically how anyone who watched him play for Augsburg should remember him: going full-speed to the basket, forcing you to somehow make him give up the ball. The thing is, though, when he was giving up the ball, it was generally by putting up a shot, and when he put up a shot in an Auggies uniform, there was a good chance it was going in. 

Those who hadn't yet heard of Coplin when he went for 23 and 10 in a win against Carroll at the 2017 D3hoops.com Classic, or when he averaged 13 points and 6.3 rebounds that season as a sophomore to help Augsburg to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since some guy named Devean George played at Si Melby Hall, well, you have to figure they picked up on him his junior year. That season included a game in which he played all 55 minutes of a triple-overtime loss to conference heavyweight St. Thomas, throwing in 34 points with 15 rebounds, eight assists and four blocked shots for good measure. He was similarly relentless in dropping 32 on St. Thomas in regulation in knocking the Tommies from the conference tournament on the road in the semifinals, and his valiant effort of 46 points in the conference final at St. John's wasn't enough in a three-point loss. Coplin ended up averaging 28.0 points per game as a junior. He spent that offseason recovering from surgery and needed a six-month rehab just to get back on the floor for his senior season, where he scored another 23.7 points per game, but the Auggies lost at home in the conference first round to No. 6 seed St. Olaf. Coplin finished with 1,868 career points and shot 87.2% from the foul line for his career. The 1,784 points he scored in an Augsburg uniform are good enough for fifth all-time in school history.

In 2019, the NABC picked him as their national player of the year, ahead of some guy named Aston Francis. He wasn't the best player in Division III that season, but he was really, really good, and he made Augsburg a force to be reckoned with in the MIAC.