Richard Coffey is going to try to hustle around a dance floor Saturday night the way he once did in the paint. Coffey is taking part in the "6th Annual Dancing with the Twin Cities Celebrities Charity Ball" along with Ben Utecht, a singer and member of the 2006 Super Bowl winning Colts; Carla Beaurline, creator and host of cable Channel 6's "Around Town;" Heather Harden, a financial adviser and former TV anchor; Mike Woodley, a broadcaster and entrepreneur and Kitty Orient, a fitness ambassador.
The Arthur Murray-sponsored dance contest is due to start around 8 p.m. (unless you bought a ticket to take part in the earlier silent auction and dinner) at the Marriott in Minneapolis' City Center.
Coffey is dancing "The Hustle" and his competitive juices were flowing, as you'll see on my startribune.com/video when he exchanged pleasantries with Utecht.
A former Gophers and Timberwolves players, Coffey has been getting a lot of ink as the father of three standout basketball players — Sydney, a 6-0 junior guard at Marist, Nia, a 6-1 sophomore forward at Northwestern and Amir, a Hopkins High junior expected to be a big-time recruit in 2016, who is out for the season after tearing his ACL in December. Sydney, Nia and Amir are Coffey's children with ex-wife Sheba Coffey, a Timberwolves staffer, who is 50 percent responsible for the kids' athletic gene pool. Mom ran a little track and played a lot basketball in high school.
Richard Coffey told me he is engaged to marry Jenny Blomgren in October. Thanks to an assist from an Arthur Murray pro, Coffey should be ready for that first dance.
Q: Over your shoulder there's a sign that reads, "Never Miss The Chance To Dance." How much dancing did you do before signing up for this?
A: None! None at all but it's been fun. I've learned a lot with the professional dancer I'm working with [Theresa Stecker]; she's helping me out a lot. I'm really excited.
Q: I imagine you took this seriously because you are competitive?