Aliyah Collier

Aliyah A'taeya Collier (born September 6, 1997) is an American basketball player. A 5'9" guard, she played college basketball for Clemson University where she was an ACC All-Tournament Second Team in 2019. Following her college career, she went on to play professionally in Europe. In 2022, she won the Icelandic championship with Njarðvík and was named the Playoffs MVP.

Aliyah Collier

Personal information
Born	(1997-09-06) September 6, 1997 (age 26)
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Career information
High school	Lucy Craft Laney (Augusta, Georgia)
College	Clemson (2015–2019)
Playing career	2019–present
Position	Guard
Career history
2019–2020	União Sportiva
2020–2021	Kouvottaret
2021–2023	Njarðvík
2023	Colegio Los Leones Quilpe
Career highlights and awards
Icelandic champion (2022) Icelandic Super Cup (2022) Úrvalsdeild Playoffs MVP (2022) Úrvalsdeild scoring leader (2023) 2× Úrvalsdeild rebounding leader (2022, 2023) ACC All-Tournament Second Team (2019)

High school career

Collier grew up in Augusta, Georgia^[1] and attended Lucy Craft Laney High School where she starred at basketball and helped the team to the state title game in 2013 and 2015,^[2] winning it in her senior season after posting 19 points, 8 assists and 7 steals in the championship game.^[3] For the season, she averaged 16.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 5.5 steals.^[4]

College career

Collier played college basketball for Clemson from 2015 to 2019. She was named to the ACC All-Tournament Second Team in her senior season.^[3][1]

Professional career

In 2019, Collier signed with Clube União Sportiva of the Portuguese Liga Feminina de Basquetebol. She helped the team post the best defense in the league, allowing only 57.5 points per game before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. Sportiva finished third in the league^[5] and also went to the Cup Finals where it lost to Quinta dos Lombos.^[6] Collier finished as the league's third best scorer with 19.4 points per game while also averaging 9.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.1 steals per game.^[6]

The following season, she signed with Kouvottaret of the Finnish Naisten Korisliiga.^[7] In 29 games, she averaged 15.4 points and 11.2 rebounds per game.

In July 2021, Collier signed with newly promoted Njarðvík of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild kvenna.^[8] She led Njarðvík to the semi-finals of the Icelandic Cup^[9] where they lost to eventual winners Haukar. After Njarðvík started hot, it faded towards the end of the season and finished with the fourth best record in the league. In the playoffs, it knocked out first-place Fjölnir in the semi-finals, 3–1, and advanced to the Úrvalsdeild finals for the first time since 2012.^[10] In the finals, Njarðvík faced Haukar and took the first game behind Collier's 31 points and 20 rebounds, where she became the first player to achieve a 30–20 game in the Úrvalsdeild finals history. After posting 21 points and 13 rebounds in Njarðvík's game two loss, she had 38 points and 20 rebounds in Njarðvík's game three victory.^[11][12] In game four she posted 27 points and 20 rebounds in Njarðvík's 51–60 loss.^[13] In game five, she led Njarðvík to the national championship and was named the Playoffs MVP after posting 24 points and 25 rebounds in the deciding game.^[14] Following the finals, she signed a 1-year extension with Njarðvík.^[15]

On 18 September 2022, she led Njarðvík to victory in the annual Icelandic Super Cup after posting 45 points and 29 rebounds in the 94-87 victory against Haukar.^[16]

In the Úrvalsdeild, she led the league in scoring and rebounds, averaging 22.1 points and 12.7 rebounds per game.^[17] On 14 December 2022, she scored a season high 40 points and tied a season high of 21 rebounds while also having 7 assists and 7 steals against Haukar.^[18] On 18 January 2023, she had a triple-double against Grindavík, with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.^[19] During the regular season, she led the league in points, rebounds and blocks with averages of 22.1 points, 12.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks, while also averaging 5.8 assist and 4.0 steals per game.^[20] She suffered a season ending injury in the first game of Njarðvík's first round series against Keflavík. Without her, Njarðvík lost the series 1–3.^[21]

References

1. Dan Hope (11 January 2017). "Whatever team needs, versatile sophomore Collier ready to help". Anderson Independent-Mail. p. 14W. Retrieved 27 April 2022 – via Newspapers.com.  
2. Wayne Staats (6 March 2015). "Collier looking to finish career with state title". Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
3. "Aliyah Collier – Clemson Tigers Official Athletics Site". Clemson Tigers. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
4. "Laney star Aliyah Collier plans to sign with Clemson". Augusta Chronicle. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
5. Arthur Melo (21 May 2020). "União Sportiva foi a equipa que melhor defendeu na Liga Feminina". Açoriano Oriental (in Portuguese). Retrieved 27 April 2022.
6. Ricardo Xufre (30 September 2020). "Aliyah Collier (ex Uniao Sportiva) signs at Kouvot". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
7. "Kouvottaret ja Aliyah Collier vuoden mittaiseen sopimukseen". basket.fi (in Finnish). 6 July 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
8. Davíð Eldur (23 July 2021). "Njarðvík semur við þrjá leikmenn". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 April 2022.
9. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (17 March 2022). "Njarðvíkinga þyrstir í titil". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 April 2022.
10. Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (19 April 2022). "Nýliðarnir ætla að endurtaka leikinn frá 2012 og skemma fullkomna endurkomu þeirra bestu". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 April 2022.
11. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (26 April 2022). "Mótherjar nýliðanna úr Njarðvík ráða ekkert við hina mögnuðu Collier". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 April 2022.
12. Gunnar Egill Daníelsson (26 April 2022). "Haukakonur réðu ekkert við Collier". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 April 2022.
13. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (29 April 2022). "Átján stigum frá því að taka stigametið af leikmanni sem er í hinu liðinu". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 29 April 2022.
14. Kristján Jónsson (1 May 2022). "Sú besta íhugar að vera áfram í Njarðvík". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2 May 2022.
15. Davíð Eldur (7 May 2022). "Aliyah tekur slaginn með Íslandsmeisturunum "Á næsta tímabili verða gerðar til okkar væntingar"". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 May 2022.
16. Atli Arason (18 September 2022). "Hún er tilbúin að deyja fyrir klúbbinn eftir aðeins tvær vikur í Njarðvík". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 September 2022.
17. "Aliyah A'taeya Collier - Subway deild kvenna (2022-2023 Tímabil)". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Association. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
18. Atli Arason (14 December 2022). "Erum að sýna öllum að við eigum inni auka gír". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
19. Jón Björn Ólafsson (18 January 2023). "Grindavík landaði rándýrum stigum í Njarðvík". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 30 March 2023.
20. "Subway deild kvenna (2022-2023 Tímabil)". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Association. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
21. Jakob Snævar Ólafsson (13 April 2023). "Því miður brotnuðum við allt of snemma". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 April 2023.

External links

• Finnish statistics at basket.fi
• Icelandic Statistics at Icelandic Basketball Association
• Clemson Tigers Bio