ESPN's Brenda VanLengen Endows Scholarship At Alma Mater

By Julia M. Coleman: SPM FL Writer
Posted Thursday, April 24, 2008

ESPN and Fox Sports Women’s College Basketball Analyst Brenda VanLengen has endowed a basketball scholarship at her alma mater, the University of Nebraska-Kearney. SPMsportspage.com wanted to know the details, so we sat down with VanLengen to ask her about her motivations for the endowment and her own experiences as a former college player.

SPMsportspage: When you were growing up, did you expect that basketball would be a large part of your adult life?

Vanlengen: I really did. I always hoped it would be, but definitely in a different way than it turned out. I grew up with my dad as a HS teacher and coach so I was always around sports always around coaching so my lifelong dream was to be a high school teacher and coach. So I thought that was probably how I would spend my life – involved in sports - specifically basketball.

I coached for three years at the high school level and coached at the college level, and then decided to move into the corporate world and that is when I got into broadcasting.

"I hope my legacy is about the fact that I have spent most of my life committed to children and women who need someone out there to be their advocate." - Brenda VanLengen

SPMsportspage:. How does Division I differ from Division II and all other levels of college sports?

VanLengen: Resources! I think the biggest difference is the resources available to the student-athlete. At D-I and D-II you have players that are athletic, smart players, good skills players, but you have some that are highly motivated by academics and some that aren’t. But at the D-II level the biggest difference is that there aren’t as many resources available at that level. But I had a great experience playing at that level, it was the right competition level for me and I was able to focus on both my academics and my athletic interests.

SPMsportspage: What impacted your decisions about which college to attend?

VanLengen (laughing): Well, I grew up in a small town in the middle of Nebraska and my parents actually met each other while attending Kearney State College (now UNK) while they were students, I was born while they were attending Kearney State. I grew up about an hour away from there and it’s the college that I went to when I went to basketball camp in the summer and music camp … it was what I was most familiar with and when they offered me a scholarship to play basketball there, it was a natural choice for me.

SPMsportspage: Did your combined experience of academics and athletics prepare you for life post-college?

VanLengen: Definitely! I grew up knowing the two were intertwined. It was important for me to be competitive and to work to be successful no matter what I did. It didn’t matter if it was academics or on the athletic field. Having the strong emphasis on academic success definitely prepared me for my career -- when I first started my career, when I first became a high school teacher and coach -- so far the rest of my career as well. Having the academic background I had helped prepare me for the options I experienced. I didn’t go to school to be a television announcer. If I had gone to school to be a women’s basketball analyst in the mid-80s people would have thought I was crazy. There were only one or two women’s games broadcast nationally per year so it wouldn’t have been a really good career choice. But the degree I did get and the experience I did have, gave me the foundation to build upon and prepare for whatever I chose to do.

SPMsportspage: What, if anything, would you change about your college experience?

VanLengen: Not a lot. I really enjoyed my college experience. I had great friends, I had a good amount of success, probably the only thing I would change if I could, would be to talk to myself as a 17-year-old freshman entering college and tell myself to believe in myself more. I spent too much time my freshman and sophomore years being intimidated and not really believing in my abilities. I was late in blossoming in my basketball career and I wish I would have had more confidence in my abilities when I started as a freshman.

SPMsportspage: Best advice you could offer incoming freshmen?

VanLengen: Believe in yourself, be prepared to work hard, and only do it if you really love it. Playing in college or being involved in athletics at the college level is like a job. It is not something you want to do because your parents told you to do it or you friends think you should. The reason to do is because you love it and you want to do it and it is our heart’s desire and that will allow you to have fun and have success and really enjoy your experience.

SPMsportspage: Do you miss playing hoops?

VanLengen: I do, yes. After college I went back to play in some alumni games and a few tournaments, and recently I played in a city recreational league. But I probably haven’t played in the last five years. I play basketball mostly out in the driveway with my two boys. But I do play in a flag football league!

SPMsportspage: What do you hope to accomplish by offering your scholarship?

VanLengen: I wanted to give back to my university. I am thankful for the experience and appreciative of the opportunity. I wanted to give back and help program. The women’s basketball program was always short on resources and I thought if I can help in some small way and improve the budget I would like to do that.

I was able to announce that I was endowing the scholarship when I was invited back to the Blue-Gold banquet that they have every year in conjunction with their golf fundraiser. It was the first time they had invited somebody back that wasn’t particularly famous (laughing). It was usually Tom Osborne or Barry Switzer or some other big name college coach, and they decided instead that they had enough interesting alumni, and that they should invite a [regular] alum.

So the first year they did it, they invited me! I was so honored and humbled that they would invite me! Especially being a female athlete. I had, over the past few years, thought about what could I do to give back to my university so when I got the call and was invited to speak at the banquet I got in touch with the development office and I told them I was interested in doing something, but I had heard that endowing a scholarship cost $10,000 and I didn’t have $10,000 to write a check, so I asked if there were other options. They told me there are other ways to endow a scholarship. You can give a certain amount each year that will build toward that endowment. Half of your contribution will go toward the program and the other half will go to your endowment and then you can build up the endowment that way. It was a terrific way and a creative way to do it. It allowed me, at a young stage in my career, to put money toward it each year to really make a difference for the program.

SPMsportspage: Does your scholarship have a name?

VanLengen: The scholarship is the “Ann Stockton Memorial Scholarship presented by Brenda VanLengen.” As I mentioned, I always wanted to give back to my university and I wanted to honor my close friend – my best friend – who was killed in a motorcycle accident while we were in college. This seemed like the best way I could honor her and give back to the program.

She was a member of the basketball team for one year. She was my best friend. It was a great way to honor her memory.

SPMsportspage: Does your scholarship have selection criteria?

VanLengen: I wanted the scholarship to go to a small-town Nebraska or Kansas girl who is majoring in either education (teaching or coaching), or sports marketing.

SPMsportspage: Are you part of the selection committee?

VanLengen: No I am not. They always let me know who wins the scholarship but I am not part of the selection committee.

SPMsportspage: Since your scholarship is endowed, it could be around even longer than you. That means you will have left a quite a mark on both your alma mater and many student-athletes to follow. Do you consider this scholarship to be your greatest legacy (future accomplishments notwithstanding)?

VanLengen: What I had hoped to accomplish was to give back to my university. I just have always felt the importance of giving back no matter what it is. I hope that this scholarship inspires other alums from UNK to support the athletic program and I hope it inspires other women across the country to give to their college programs, whatever program it is. I was inspired by the University of Texas. I broadcast their games in the BIG 12, and when you look at their media guide every one of their scholarships has been endowed. And now Sherri Coale at the University of Oklahoma is doing the same thing. That inspired me to want to endow a scholarship at my alma mater and I hope that doing this inspires others to take that step.

I guess as far as my legacy ... I hope my legacy is more eternal. It is what I do in serving God. I hope people see my life and see God reflected through me – that is important for me.

As far as what I do on this earth it’s about doing what is right for people that can’t help themselves. With PE4Life [VanLengen is VP of Operations], we are really reaching out and making a difference for kids. In my opinion it is criminal that this is the first generation that will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents because of their sedentary lifestyle.

So I hope my legacy is about the fact that I have spent most of my life committed to children and women who need someone out there to be their advocate. That is what is most important to me.

Brenda VanLengen was a two-time Academic All-American while on a basketball scholarship to the University of Nebraska-Kearney (formerly known as Kearney State College). She was awarded her Master’s of Education in 1992 and embarked on a coaching career but quickly segued into the corporate environment and currently serves as the Vice President, Operations, for PE4Life, a leading national program for improving physical education curricula for all K-12 children. Brenda divides her time between PE4Life, raising her children, and providing analysis for women’s college basketball for both ESPN and Fox Sports.