Nimz’s teams won 21 games, appeared in the NJCAA national rankings, and advanced to the Region 14 Tournament Championship game, coming within one win of advancing to nationals during each of the last two years.
This past season, Nimz coached Jade Thurmon, who signed with Iowa State, to First Team All-American and Region 14 MVP honors.
Nimz also developed a pair of Academic All-Americans in Danielle Meador and Alexus Moore.
At Kilgore’s 2017 convocation, Nimz received the institution’s Outstanding Employee Award for her work as a member of the faculty and staff. In addition to coaching women’s basketball, Nimz coached CrossFit and taught CPR and First Aid courses on campus.
Before arriving at Kilgore, Nimz served for five seasons as head coach at Labette Community College, where she was also the school’s assistant athletic director during her last three years.
“Anna had been a head coach for eight years at the junior college level in Kansas and Texas, including these last three years at Kilgore,” UTRGV head coach Lane Lord said. “I’ve known Anna for 15 or 20 years. When she was a high school player in Kansas, I actually coached her in an all-star game. She was on my staff at Pittsburg State for two years. She’s a great competitor and recruiter. Her Texas connections will be important as we’re recruiting Texas kids first, particularly South Texas.”
As a player, Nimz was a McDonald’s All-American Game nominee during her senior year at Hayden Catholic High School in Topeka, Kan. She graduated as the school’s all-time leader in single-season and career scoring.
After spending one season at Washburn, Nimz finished her collegiate playing career at Pittsburg State under Lord, where, as a senior, she was recognized as the team most valuable player and best defensive player. She also received the team’s leadership award and was named Female Student-Athlete of the Year.
Nimz graduated from Pitt State in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Education and then began her coaching career at Pitt State as a graduate assistant. She earned her Master of Education in 2009 and was recognized as the Graduate Assistant of the Year by the kinesiology department.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to be a part of an institution this is continuously moving forward to becoming one of the top schools in the WAC,” Nimz said. “I’m excited to work with Coach Lord again, to work with the staff here, and to grow professionally.”
