Tanin Leaves Her Mark on Women’s Basketball

Sitori Tanin has seen a lot in her five years with the Loyola women’s basketball team, undergoing a switch of head coaches from the former Kate Achter to the current Allison Guth. She’s also one of the few in the program to have experienced life before the switch to the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The graduate forward — colloquially known as “Sit” by teammates and coaches — made an instant impact as a first-year, appearing in all 27 games in the 2020-21 season and starting in six before receiving a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team. 

Since Achter’s departure a year later, Tanin’s role has steadily increased under Guth’s regime, both on the court and off it, as she’s served as a liaison for Loyola in conference media days, in Name, Image and Likeness conferences and makes consistent appearances on program gameday posters.

Tanin has utilized the experience of becoming a face of Loyola’s brand as an opportunity to best represent her teammates, coaches and the school itself. She said she consistently tries to stay true to Loyola values — being a servant for others and always remaining grateful.

Early on in Guth’s Loyola tenure, while holding initial player meetings, she said she was immediately cognizant of Tanin’s kind demeanor and understanding of a new coaching environment.

“I just think she embraced the culture of wanting to maximize people with the positive coaching,” Guth said. “Affirmations — and that’s not all rainbows, butterflies and sunshine — but I think she embraced the culture of wanting to maximize her as an athlete, as an intellect and as a human.”

Tanin’s workout buddy and fourth-year forward Destiny Jackson has been with her every year, except her first, and has experienced Tanin’s evolution from a reserved teammate to a more vocal leader within the squad — even up to her selection as one of three captains for the 2024-25 season. 

Jackson said early on in her career, while dealing with the struggles of adjusting to college and injuries, she and Tanin developed a relationship around a “flower” metaphor. 

A tough day for Jackson — who was suffering from a foot injury at the time — had her lamenting that her flowers were dead. Tanin responded by ensuring they’d never be dead because she’d always be around to water them. 

Since then, Jackson said she’s spent her career knowing she’ll always have a shoulder to lean on, no matter the struggle.

During the preseason and facing the arrival of 10 new players, Tanin’s off-court role extended to team development and cohesion. Her integration of transfers and first-years into the team culture was crucial and “mother-like,” according to Guth, and led to her commanding a quick vote for captain alongside graduate guard Thoranna Kika Hodge-Carr and third-year guard Kira Chivers.

Serving as captain is another accolade in Tanin’s career, which started in second grade while watching her siblings play basketball. Despite the allure of gymnastics at the time, Tanin continued to play the game through high school before the consideration of college came up.

A native from Middleton, Wisc., Tanin said she initially viewed Loyola — more specifically Chicago — as a new environment with a unique opportunity.

“I knew I wanted to kind of get outside of my comfort zone from coming from like a smaller town in Wisconsin,” Tanin said. “I thought it’d be great to get into something different in going to Chicago — obviously the closest, but a big city.”

Tanin said despite overcoming an initial culture shock and appreciating the campus, a lunch with her future teammates gave her the critical inspiration to join Loyola.

She wouldn’t be alone in the move from Middleton to Chicago. Along for the ride was then-boyfriend — current fiance — and Loyola men’s volleyball’s Parker Van Buren. The two were both recruited by Loyola, and Van Buren eventually surprised Tanin by announcing his commitment to the Ramblers.

Both in their graduate year, the pair announced their engagement in August, nearly eight years since they first began dating during their sophomore year of high school. 

Van Buren said the decision to ask Tanin to marry him felt like a celebration of their collegiate careers.

“I thought it would be fun to do it — get married, pop the question while we were both at Loyola still for our fifth years,” Van Buren said. “Felt like we had graduated in a sense, but we’re still going to school, still playing our sports.” 

The potential to continue her basketball career after Loyola has become a recent development, as the couple have begun discussing opportunities overseas. There’s a distant possibility the two could end up in places far apart, but the prospect didn’t seem to daunt Van Buren.

“I would say that it excites me a lot,” Van Buren said. “As someone close to her, she has that — I know she has the ability, I know she has the potential — and I think she’s gonna be very successful if she chooses to play overseas. It makes me excited too, that I get to keep watching her play basketball.”

Even with the basketball expertise, Tanin is wrapping up a graduate degree in global strategic communications. Beyond making appearances on Loyola Athletics social media outlets, she oversees a small Youtube account that documents life both off and on the court.

Tanin has also utilized her communication background to promote altruistic efforts with communities. In September, she and Van Buren released an NIL merchandise line to donate funds toward Crohn’s disease research. In early January, she played in a “Crohn’s Disease Cause Game,” honoring the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation — a group Tanin has close ties with.

Even with her eventual departure on the horizon, Tanin still has the task of leading the Ramblers through her final-ever college tournament with the A10 Championship looming. 

Regardless of the result, she’ll still have made a major mark on the program.

“I’m just gonna miss so many things about her — as a human, as a student,” Guth said. “Man, when you’re a coach and you can walk across campus and hold your chest out with such pride that she’s representing our team in the community the way she does in the classroom, the way she does — you just get really prideful of somebody who does it right, in all areas.”