UNI women's basketball coach Tanya Warren shows how passion prevails
When coach Tanya Warren reflects on what she's most proud of in her career, it's not anything you can find in a record book or on a stat sheet.
A determined beginning
In her 17th year leading the UNI women's basketball program, Tanya Warren became the new leader for most wins in the Missouri Valley Conference.
It's yet another remarkable addition to an illustrious resume, but when Warren reflects on what she's most proud of in her career, it's not anything you can find in a record book or on a stat sheet.
"I was loyal to [not only] myself and those around me, but to the game," Warren said. "The game has been very good to me and that's why I'm very passionate about the game to this day."
Warren's loyalty to the game has been tested several times throughout her life, but her love for it remained constant.
Basketball has been central to Warren's life since she was 5 years old. By age 7, she knew she wanted to play in college.
Warren credits her cousins and two older brothers for her desire.
"Everywhere they went, I went, and so we played a lot of basketball growing up from the time we got up in the summer," she said. "Go home, do our chores and then back out on the playground."
But a family tragedy nearly caused warren to quit the game.
At just 17 years old, her oldest brother died while at basketball practice.
"My parents sat me down and said 'That's not the way he would've wanted it', and so, through a lot of reflection and prayer and hard work, I just said 'Okay, if I'm gonna do this, I'm going to do it for the both of us,'" Warren said.
With her newfound drive combined with her natural abilities, Warren stood out at Lincoln High School. She lit up the court, averaging an impressive 33.5 points per game and earning the nickname "The Little Magician."
"She was a phenomenon. She was something that was different because she was so small and she was so prolific at scoring. Her record was 61 points. I mean, for heaven's sake. You just don't find people that do that," said Jerry Schartner, Warren's high school basketball coach.
After a stellar high school career, Warren achieved her dream: A scholarship to play at Creighton University.
But five games into her freshman season, Warren tore her ACL and was out for the season.
Inspired by her coaches, trainers and teammates along with the promise she made to honor her brother, there was no doubt in Warren's mind she would return to the court better than ever.
"I had come that far, I wasn't gonna give up then so I knew that I didn't have a choice," Warren said. "I knew what I needed to do and how I needed to go about it and for me, coming back the same or average wasn't an option."
To former Creighton teammate Connie Yori, Warren's resolve was indicative of her character on and off the court.
"She's a very determined person," Yori said. "I mean, for her to come back and play at the level she did considering the magnitude of that type of injury then just says a lot about how much she loves the game and how much she wanted to continue her career."
Not only did warren continue her career, but she elevated it to become a Creighton hall of famer.
She's the Bluejays' all-time career assist leader and ranks 10th in career points — and is one of just two people in program history to have their jersey number retired.
All of this achieved, despite having her career cut short with yet another ACL tear in her final season.
"She was was hurt as freshman. She was hurt as a senior and the statistics that she accumulated really never being completely healthy. She played hurt. She played tired. She played with injuries." Bruce Rasmussen, Warren's coach at Creighton, told Local 5.
After a career-ending injury, Warren hung up her high tops and moved on, but not from basketball itself.
The coaching career that awaited Warren gave the game even more meaning than it ever had before.
Coaching with care
After Warren's college basketball career ended, she became a coach.
Even while she was still playing it was very evident to those around her she was perfectly suited for that role.
"I didn't have a full-time assistant coach. My assistant coach was my point guard and, more often than not, I asked Tanya what we should do, what should we run on offense, what should we do? And the same defensively," Rasmussen said. "So I knew early in her career that not only was she going to be an outstanding player, but she was going to be an outstanding coach."
Despite her basketball IQ, coaching wasn't originally part of Warren's post-college plans — that was to become a family therapist and own her own practice.
Warren coached high school basketball from the late '80s until the mid-'90s.
From there, Warren served as an assistant for several college programs before landing her first collegiate head coaching job in 2007 at the University of Northern Iowa.
Warren knew she faced a tough challenge – but as a competitor, she didn't shy away.
"Nothing in life is easy. If you want something, you have to go after it, and there's gonna be 50 million people who tell you you can't," Warren said. "And the one voice that you have to hear that says you can is your own voice. I try to turn down the negative. I'm never going to get rid of it, but I can control the volume."
Over the next 17 years Warren would become the Missouri Valley Conference's all-time leader in conference wins, a three-time MVC coach of the year, and lead her teams to two MVC regular season titles and two MVC tournament titles.
At the root of all that success is Warren's relationship-focused approach.
"I think the thing that has been constant over the years is her relationships she's been able to build with her staff, with players, and just her ability to leak confidence and positivity into your game," said Katelin Oney, UNI women's basketball assistant coach.
UNI women's basketball associate coach Brad Nelson shares the same sentiment.
"She's got an incredible ability to get all of our players to play hard, to buy into to team and understanding that team success is the ultimate success," Nelson said.
Warren holds players to a high standard.
"She's not going to take it easy on us. She's going to hold us accountable and that's what we need," UNI junior guard Maya McDermott told Local 5.
And she holds herself to that same standard.
"There's a disconnect when coaches ask that of players but players don't see it in the coach," Nelson said. "And Tanya's a lifelong learner. She has gotten better and better every year. It's really the love of her life."
Warren has dedicated so much of her life to basketball and UNI that those within the Panther program have become family.
"God blessed me. I don't have kids of my own, so these are my kids. I only get them for four to five years, and I look at it that way. When they come here, their parents entrust them to us and I don't take that lightly," she said.
And just like any parent — her goal is to help them grow in all facets of life.
"So, my 'why' is to be a positive impact and to help these young women understand that it's really important that they stay spiritually, emotionally and physically fit, whatever that looks like for them," Warren added.
The way warren shows up for her players, they show up for her in return.
"She's the reason I came," McDermott said. "She's the reason we're so successful as a team. And we're going to continue to play for her and just be the best team that we can be."
Coach Warren's success in basketball and in life is a glowing example of how passion prevails.