NAMPA, Idaho – Eight years ago, Elpidia Allen took a leap of faith that would change the course of her life.

The local university needed an assistant basketball coach, which fit Allen's career path perfectly.

Only it came with a hitch. The job was only for a year.

Then-Northwest Nazarene head women's basketball coach Kelli Lindley was stepping aside on a one-year maternity leave. Assistant coach Ryan McCarthy was promoted up and he reached out to Allen to fill the spot.

The rest, as they say, is history.

"I thought I'd be gone by now," she said. "A one-year gig … and now here I am, nine years later. It's been an amazing ride."

And at times a roller coaster ride.

Allen coached that year with McCarthy —now the head coach at Alaska Anchorage —worked in admissions for a year, came back to the basketball bench, left for a season and is now back where she belongs – on the Nighthawks sidelines.

"Elpidia is about as close as you can get to a perfect assistant coach in my opinion," said Lindley, NNU's athletic director. "She is really gifted in the areas of relationship building with the student athletes. She has the cool factor and is super relatable. NNU is truly blessed to have her."

Allen and the Nighthawks (28-2) open the NCAA Division II National Tournament at 3:30 p.m. MDT on Friday against Humboldt State (19-7) in San Diego.

Basketball

About the only thing Elpidia loves more than basketball is her family.

She lives, eats and drinks the sport.

She watches nearly every college basketball game that is on TV every season. She played high school and college basketball. Married a college basketball player and her two sons are rising basketball stars in Nampa. Oh, and she coaches the sport too, in case you forgot.

"I'm a junkie," she said. "I love watching film and games. Sometimes I watch NBA games and find a set I like and find a way to copy it and send it to (head coach Steve) Steele. I love the Xs and Os and breaking down what teams are doing."

Allen played basketball, volleyball and ran track and field growing up. Her mom played basketball and all of her cousins played sports.

Her third-grade year she joined the Nampa Youth Basketball Association and fell in in love with the game. She quickly became one of the best players in the area, starring at Skyview High School. She is in the school's hall of fame as an individual for basketball and as a part of the 2000 state-title winning track and field team.

Despite probably being the best player in the Treasure Valley, the school in her backyard never recruited her. Part of that is because she was a 5-foot-6 post and part of that was because NNU was going through a coaching transition.

So, she headed to Treasure Valley Community College, converted to point guard, set a million records and ended up at Lewis-Clark State as a junior.

Injuries derailed her career in Lewiston, but she met her husband, Chris, there and then moved back to Nampa to become a coach at Skyview.

After a few years kicking around the high school scene, McCarthy called her with an opportunity that turned into her big break.

McCarthy knew Allen because he played basketball with her husband.

"She was the biggest hoops junkie I knew," he said. "I really felt she would be an excellent coach because of her ability to build relationships. There happened to be a very successful coach before her (Kelli Lindley), who had a similar pedigree. So, I thought it was a no brainer to go after Elpidia."

While McCarthy might regret that decision now that he has to compete with Allen on the recruiting trail and when their two teams square off every season, it has worked out very well for NNU.

Recruiting

If there is one word that most people would use to describe Allen it would be personable.

She talks to anyone, is always smiling, has a no complaining rule and just generally gets along with everyone.

All of that adds up to make her a tremendous recruiter.

"I felt like I instantly knew her when I talked to her," NNU graduate Kayla Schumann said. "She would send letters, call, text. I felt like she was an instant friend."

When Allen was first hired she had no experience in recruiting. McCarthy gave her a list of questions to ask potential students to get conversations started. Eventually, though, her natural skill took over.

"It was super uncomfortable at first," she said. "After a bit it became natural. I'm a people person and my degree is in communications."

After her year working for McCarthy, Lindley returned to the bench and Allen went to work in admissions for NNU.

She spent one year over there before returning to coaching to replace McCarthy, who went to Alaska.

That year in admissions was huge because it gave her broad knowledge of the University, which could only help when it came time to convince kids to come to Nampa.

"She has proven herself to literally be one of the best Division II recruiters in the country," Lindley said. "She is obviously a massive part in the success they are having based on her recruiting."

Allen helped NNU land players from all over the place, including Lexi Tubbs from California, Colette Gall from Richland, Wash., the Jardine twins from Nampa, Ellie Logan from Fossil, Ore., and the list goes on and on.

"Elpidia was really personal about things," Tubbs said. "She followed me on every social media and normally when coaches do that, you think they are trying to sneak on you or get dirt, but she just wanted to know what I was up to."

While Allen loves breaking down games and plays and sets, she said her favorite part of being a coach is definitely recruiting. And it shows in the quality of students she has brought in.

"The first thing that comes to mind is she is recruiting 24-7," NNU head coach Steve Steele said. "If not talking or emailing, she is on social media. If you ask her, it probably doesn't feel like work. She enjoys it."

Relationships

Allen doesn't just help get kids to come to Nampa, she also becomes a lifelong friend and mentor.

For Schumann, who was Allen's first recruit, it was never more evident than earlier this year when her dad suddenly passed away.

"Any life event that happens, she was always there for me," Schumann said. "She got a flight right away. She genuinely cares. She knows when to be professional as a coach, but can also connect with you on a personal level and I think that is important as an assistant coach."

Allen's connection with her players was never more evident than during the two years of uncertainty when Allen resigned after not seeing eye-to-eye with former coach Ryan Bragdon. Bragdon eventually was let go in the middle of a season, a new coach was brought in only for him to resign after a few months.

Through it all, the players were still in contact with Allen, who had moved on to coaching traders at Northwestern Mutual.

"When she quit that year, I probably saw her just as much as during basketball," Tubbs said. "She was kind of that go-to person for me. It was good to have someone who understood what was happening but that wasn't involved too much."

When NNU hired Steele in the summer of 2016, Lindley asked if he had any plans for assistant coaches. He said he had some ideas, but would be willing to talk to Allen when he was in town on his interview.

"I knew Elpidia from the recruiting trail and from when we played NNU," said Steele, who was an assistant at Seattle Pacific at the time. "We started talking basketball and what we wanted to do with the program and what we wanted the culture to be and recruiting. I think we were both excited after like 10 minutes. After that one conversation, I was really sold."

Steele and Allen's relationship has been solid from Day 1. She does a ton of work with recruiting, helps him to know what schools and players to scout locally, and he has her handle all the substituting during games.

Thanks to a week-long illness earlier this season, he even let her make her head-coaching debut.

Allen and the Nighthawks defeated Montana State Billings on the road that night and then the text messages started pouring in – from former players to friends and family and even one from McCarthy.

It was a good moment for Allen to step back and realize the impact she has had so far in her NNU career.

"It's amazing, because you put in so many hours of working on your culture and working on the recruiting," she said. "It is really cool to see it all pan out on the floor."