Tamlyn Tills resigns as Concordia Chicago women's basketball coach
RIVER FOREST, Ill. -- Tamlyn Tills, head coach of the Concordia University Chicago women's basketball team for the past six seasons, has resigned her position to accept the head coaching job at Lake Forest College. Tills will succeed Jackie Slaats who coached the Foresters program for the past 22 years.

Tills, who also served Concordia as an assistant athletic director and Senior Woman Administrator, leaves behind a program that enjoyed a very successful 2007-08 season. The Cougars went 17-10, just one win short of the program's all-time best, and finished third place in the Northern Athletics Conference with a 13-5 record. Concordia defeated Rockford College in the first round of the conference tournament before losing by two points in the semifinal to eventual champion Wisconsin Lutheran College. Tills also coached Marche Smith, named the Rookie of the Year by both the conference and the D3hoops.com Central Region.

"This is a great opportunity for me, and the timing was perfect for me to accept this new position," stated Tills. "At the same time, telling the players that I was leaving Concordia was a very difficult thing for me. They understand why I am making this move, but I told them that they will continue to make the Cougar program an excellent one under the new coach as long as they are playing basketball for the right reasons and exhibiting a passion for the game."

Tills came to Concordia in 2002, inheriting a program that had won just 15 games in its previous five years. The Cougars won just five games in her first season, but Tills' first true recruiting class brought about a 13-win season in 2003-04, the most since the 1987-88 season. Tills would go on to win 67 games in her six years at Concordia, and she would coach two of the program's six 1,000-point scorers in Atoi Sinclair (1,235, second place) and Ellie Bravo (1,121, fifth); Sinclair also became the school's all-time leading rebounder with 900.

Among her many accomplishments at Concordia, Tills lists three of which she is the proudest: "First, the program has established a reputation of competing to the point where we are now a bona fide choice for high school athletes looking to play collegiate ball. Second, the Cougars have established a winning tradition; they worked hard to get where they did this past season and can now focus on maintaining it over the next several years. Finally, I believe that the program is now defined by quality individuals – players who commit to the school and the basketball program for four years and carry themselves as exemplary student-athletes."

In conclusion, Tills states, "I am very thankful for my time at Concordia Chicago. I believe that I made my convictions for the game of basketball and for this Cougar program readily apparent, and I am proud of what has been accomplished. While I am sad to leave the school and these players in particular, I feel that the program will continue to be a strong Division III program and represent the university in a worthy fashion."

Courtesy of Concordia University Chicago, Sports Information Department, April 1, 2008.