MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – University of Minnesota women's basketball head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit has announced the addition of
Tyler VanWinkle to the support staff as the team's Director of Video Services.
"Tyler was an incredibly valuable member of our staff last season and a major reason why we were successful," Plitzuweit said. "Tyler has the heart of a servant and is willing to do anything he can to assist our young ladies and our coaches. We are excited for Ty to get started!"
A native of New Paris, Ohio, VanWinkle joins the Golden Gophers after spending last season in West Virginia with Plitzuweit. Prior to his season in Morgantown VanWinkle spent the previous two seasons as a graduate assistant at Illinois State and was a student manager with the Redbirds from 2018-20.
"I'm incredibly grateful to be working alongside Dawn at the University of Minnesota," VanWinkle said. "She is one of the best basketball minds in the country, aand it is an honor to learn from her every day. The future of Gopher Women's Basketball is bright, and I am thrilled to be a part of it."
Last season at West Virginia VanWinkle was a part of a Mountaineer team that finished 19-12 overall and reached the NCAA Tournament. He coordinated all video used for scouting, recruiting and player development. He was in charge of both practice and game analytics and also was the director of all high school and youth camps.
While serving as the graduate assistant at Illinois State, VanWinkle was a member of a staff that reached the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship and the NCAA Tournament in 2021-22. The squad also made its first postseason WNIT appearance since 2012-13 and went 73-45 in four total seasons.
At ISU VanWinkle contributed to the individual development of two All-MVC guards and the 2022 MVC Tournament MVP JuJu Redmond. With the Redbirds VanWinkle was responsible for assisting the team's video coordinator with team and individual practice film, game film and opponent scouting. He also assisted with opponent scouting, practice planning, game preparation, player development, recruiting, in-game analytics, team travel and operations while at ISU.
A graduate of Illinois State in 2020 VanWinkle completed his bachelor's degree in business administration. He also earned a master's degree in sport management from ISU in 2022
