Quality characteristics weren’t hard to find for Sam Coffer during her high school days at Greensboro’s Northern Guilford High School. Nice. Smart. Athletically dominant. She fit the bill.

But world traveler was not in the gamut of adjectives. Before her graduation, Coffer had never traveled north of the Mason-Dixon Line. She had ventured as far south as Florida and made it west a couple of times to Tennessee, but had never set foot on an airplane.

Less than a year later, the 6-foot-1 Elon University freshman can say she’s more of a global citizen. She has taken a trip to New York, a basketball tour with her Phoenix teammates in Europe and will be taking a voyage to Brazil as part of a program called Athletes in Action this summer.

She describes the upcoming journey as a basketball mission trip, with more focus on the Bible than on the hardwood. But there will be plenty of action on the basketball court, as well, which suits Coffer just fine.

“It’s a way to serve God through doing what I love,” Coffer said.

The tour features athletes from traditionally dominant women’s programs that include Baylor and Notre Dame and professional teams in the WNBA and China. The roster is a list she has wanted to be a part of since assistant coach Cristy McKinney brought the program to her attention early in the season.

But that dream didn’t become a reality until the program’s director called Coffer over spring break and gave her the good news.

“He told me that they had a place for me on the team, and that if I was up for the challenge, I was on it,” Coffer said.

Focusing upwards

Coffer hasn’t let go of her faith since she arrived on campus. She grew up going to a Baptist church and meets weekly with the Baptist Student Union, though she says her relationship with God isn’t defined by a denomination.

A nine-word motto in the New Testament helps Coffer keep focus: "Yet not as I will, but as You will" — a simple phrase found in the book of Matthew she said means so much.

“It’s just submitting myself to God’s will,” she said. “Maybe something that I don’t necessarily want to do. It’s not instinct. But it’s something I feel that I should do.”

Coffer’s teammates said the positive attitude she brings on and off the court is infectious.

“Sam shows her faith very well,” said Elon freshman guard Zora Stephenson. “I wouldn’t say it’s overbearing or anything. She’s a great person, and she believes in great things.”

Setting the standard to follow

Pretty much all pre-game shootarounds share a common trait. They’re useless to just about everyone not participating. Nothing happens. Nothing is memorable. Nothing stands out.

That’s what made the routine before Elon’s Feb. 4 game against Furman University anything but routine. The players took their spots on the floor and went about the standard warm-up procedures. But in addition to the traditional maroon and gold, the Phoenix donned pink shoes, shoelaces and armbands for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Coffer took things to a different level. In addition to the pink garb her teammates wore, she rocked a single pink feather in her hair.

“I’ve always wanted an excuse to dye my hair pink and I thought that was the perfect thing,” she said. “So I kind of just went out on a limb and did it.”

Coffer’s normally one of the more reserved players on the team, though she wants to make one thing clear — she’s not timid.

“I’m quiet at first, but I’m not shy,” she said. “I’m not afraid to say what I need to say.”

The feather was a moment of rare flair from the starting forward.

But it was just a feather. When asked what the reaction would be if she followed the lead of celebrity figures such Katy Perry and Pink and dyed her whole hair the color of her feather, Coffer bristled.

“I would not be seen in public like that,” she said.

Breaking bread, raising funds

The Athletes in Action tour in Brazil won’t be Coffer’s first mission trip. Shortly after her high school graduation, she went with her church to New York to help others in the name of the Lord.

But it will be the first time she’s had to fundraise. Coffer needs to raise $4,500 for the 15-day excursion. She said she’ll be writing letters to contacts she has met through her church experience and ask for assistance. If that doesn’t work, she has other ideas.

“(Baking cookies), car wash, whatever I need to do,” Coffer said.