CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Some coaches do more than coach. “Adversity can either destroy you or develop you. I choose to be be developed by it,” said Tanya Warren, head coach of women’s basketball at the University of Northern Iowa.

Good coaches can teach. “Everyday she challenges us to do something out of our comfort zone. That’s the only way we can grow,” said senior UNI basketball player Kayba Laube.

Great coaches inspire. “We are not just a basketball player. We want to be known as great people too and she just teaches us something new every day,” said senior UNI basketball player Maya McDermott.

Even fewer coaches are walking pieces of history. Warren said, “It was never about me it was always about we and it will always be about we for me. I know where we come from. I know that I was only able to be successful because of the people who supported my hopes and dreams.”

In her 18th season as head women’s basketball coach at the University of Northern Iowa Tanya Warren is the all-time conference wins leader in Missouri Valley Conference history. “I’m an Iowa girl and to have my first head coaching job at one of the state schools is really special,” said Warren.

Tanya learned the game tagging along with her two older brothers who she idolized but then brother Steve suffered a heart attack at high school basketball practice and died. Warren said, “When it happened I wanted to walk away from the game and my parents sat me down and said that’s not the way Steve would have wanted it. So honestly through a lot of prayer I decided if I’m going to do this I’m going to do this for the both of us.”

Warren turned tragedy into triumph. She made history in Des Moines Lincoln’s famous roundhouse as a basketball player where she went on to have an even better collegiate career. Now you can find her in the Lincoln High School Hall of Fame, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Basketball Hall of Fame and her Creighton University Blue Jays jersey is one of two women’s numbers retired by the school. “Everything I did and everything that I do to this day I still do in my brother’s honor because God has allowed this game to be good to me both personally and professionally and I try to treat it the right way,” said Warren.

Short in stature, “Heart over height,” said Warren. Coach Warren has always made big footprints even on day one back in 2007. That’s when she became not only UNI’s first black female head basketball coach but the first black female head coach in MVC history. Warren said, “I’m not here just for black females I’m here for all females. Anything is possible.

Greatness can be contagious and under Warren’s leadership Maya McDermott has catapulted into the top five scorers in Panther history. “We just take everything from her and we run with it and she has been so inspiring and we wouldn’t want to have another coach,” said the senior team leader.

McDermott’s roommate and fellow senior Kayba Laube also making history becoming UNI’s all time leader in three pointers made. “She’s always teaching us things on and off the court and not just one or two people it’s all of us. It’s all of us are part of her family,” Laube said.

For many, success can be judged by wins, titles, tournament appearances but despite the facts Tanya is no stranger to anonymous letters letting her know one thing some people cannot get over, her skin color. “I had to learn very early on in my coaching career. I opened a piece of mail and it didn’t have a return address on it and it was not very nice. I decided back then I’d stay away from anything that didn’t have a return address on it,” Warren said.

Forging a path nobody has gone before can be daunting so Tanya leans on those she trusts. Laube said, “I know that it’s been challenging and not an easy path for her but the respect she’s gained and the confidence she has she doesn’t let that bother her to us.” Aside from her players and family, even South Carolina women’s head coach Dawn Staley provides comfort. “I lost my dad three years ago in June. I still hear his words to this day and he’d always say ‘You can do and be anything you want to be. You work, and you believe,” Warren said.

While she’s proud to leave her mark and blaze the trail for African Americans, in true coaching form, she hopes her story can be history for all. Warren said, “I get judged on wins and losses but I understand that. I hope our young women take away from me is to do things the right way, to treat others with respect and to love unconditionally.”

All three of UNI’s appearances in the women’s NCAA Tournament have come under Warren’s leadership. Warren is a three-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year and guided the Panthers to league regular season titles in 2011 and 2016.