Nikki Nelson arrived
at the University of New Mexico in 2007 with
high hopes of playing
for UNM. Unfortunately, for Nikki it would take her freshman
season
ended quickly and it would take an extra year for her to finally run
down the
ramp in a Lobo uniform.
For those of you that
don’t know
the Nikki Nelson story let me update you. Nikki is a
talented 5’5 Point
Guard from Chewlah, Washington that came to UNM with high expectations
as she
finished her senior season for Chewlah HS averaging 17 points a game as
a
senior. All those expectations were
put on
hold last summer when Nelson was playing a pick up game at Johnson
Center on
the UNM main campus as she suffered a season ending knee injury before
the
season even started, putting her collegiate career on hold. Rather then
keep
her down Nelson underwent a successful knee surgery to repair her knee
she
started the long hard road of rehab
and recovery.
Nikki Nelson
“It was a very long
year,” said
Nelson. “I know God let’s everything happen for a reason, so I took it
with a
grain of salt. I tried to have the best attitude going through the
process.”
Season
long rehab was not what she
had in mind for her first year at UNM, “Of course sitting on the bench
I was
really antsy! I was just so exited to play really bad,” said Nelson.
Since she
couldn’t play last season Nelson used her time to study her basketball
team.
“It was a long year, but I felt like I learned a lot.”
Nikki Nelson is an exceptional
ball handler so it is no surprise that she spent most of her study time
watching
fellow Lobo PG Amy Beggin. “Amy is such a great player, She does so
many things
right, on and off the court, She is a great leader and always
works hard.
We call her the Energizer Bunny. It
was great to
learn and be under a person like Amy.”
The
"Energizer Bunny" Amy Beggin
After
a year off the court Nikki
Nelson finally made her Lobo debut as she along with the women’s hoops
team ran
down The Pit ramp Wednesday night kicking off the 2008-09 Lobo hoops
season.
“It
was amazing it was such a
rush, with the crowed and everyone cheering, being on the court with my
teammates. It was a huge adrenalin rush, and it was really exciting and
felt
good to be back,” exclaimed Nelson! “It was crazy, this is really
happening
right now. I had to watch all of last year, it was just really shocking
finally
being out there!”
Tuesday Nikki Nelson
showed that
she is healthy and ready to fulfill the expectations she came to
Albuquerque
with as she finished Wednesday night’s game vs. Melbourne Australia
scoring 12
points.
Did you know?
Outside
of basketball Nikki enjoys “ I like to
do any thing active, I like to hang out with friends, watch movies, and
do
anything fun be spontaneous.”
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