By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
According to social media posts by national women’s college basketball reporters Wednesday, North Alabama is hiring sixth-year Northwestern State women’s basketball coach Anna Nimz.
Talia Goodman of On3.com posted the report on her X-account Wednesday afternoon. Neither institution immediately confirmed it, and Nimz did not post on her social media accounts. Mitchell Northam of USA Today sports, an Associated Press Top 25 voter, later posted that “multiple sources” confirmed the anticipated hiring of Nimz.
Scott Whittle, general manager of the North Alabama men’s basketball program, posted on his X-account, “Welcome to Florence @CoachNimz. North Alabama is hiring Northwestern State head coach Anna Nimz to lead the women’s basketball program.”
Goodman wrote “Nimz increased or matched the program’s Southland Conference win total in each of her seasons, culminating in 2025-26 with the program’s most single-season wins in 10 years and its most Southland victories in 22 years.”
Nimz, a former assistant coach at UT-Rio Grande Valley, completed her sixth season in Natchitoches with three consecutive SLC Tournament berths, the best string since five in a row from 2014-17.
She led the Lady Demons to the 2025 WNIT, finishing at 16-16, then this season increased the win total by two to 18. It was NSU’s first winning record in women’s basketball since 2015-16.
Northwestern finished with an 18-14 mark, reaching the Southland Conference Tournament quarterfinals a year after getting to the SLC semifinals in 2025.
NSU went 26-16 in SLC play the last two regular seasons, earning SLC Tournament fifth seeds both times. This year, Nimz’ team posted wins over the league’s top four finishers, including regular-season champion McNeese in Lake Charles, and tournament finalist SFA in Natchitoches.
Recent recruiting successes include signing 2025-26 Southland Player of the Year Vernell Atamah, last year’s SLC Freshman of the Year, and 2024-25 SLC Newcomer of the Year Mya Blake.
They were the Southland scoring leaders in the past two seasons, the first time Northwestern has had the league’s top scorers in back-to-back years.
Nimz rebuilt a program that lost its first 19 games in her first season, then won the season finale in a COVID-shortened schedule. Since then, Northwestern was 68-81 overall and 45-47 in conference games.
UNA is currently in the Atlantic Sun Conference, but is moving to the reconfigured United Athletic Conference that includes former SLC members Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas and UTA, along with Tarleton State, Eastern Kentucky, West Georgia and Austin Peay.
Nimz, who turns 40 next month, is a Kansas native who has eight prior seasons of head coaching experience at the junior college level.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com
