Tyler VanWinkle - Assistant Coach/Director of Video Services - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Tyler VanWinkle

Title:
Assistant Coach/Director of Video Services
Email:

Tyler VanWinkle joined the University of Minnesota women's basketball staff in April of 2023. VanWinkle was elevated to an assistant coach role in July of 2023.

VanWinkle came to the Twin Cities after one season at West Virginia as the video coordinator, as well as two previous seasons as a graduate assistant for the Illinois State women’s basketball program. Prior to that, he was a student manager from 2018-20.

In his third season at Minnesota, VanWinkle assisted bringing the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team to new heights during the 2025-26 season, helping guide the Golden Gophers to their best season in over 20 years with a run to the Sweet Sixteen, where they fell to eventual national champion, UCLA.

Minnesota reached the 20-win mark for the third consecutive season and ended the 2025-26 Big Ten season with a 13-5 record. The 13 league victories matched a program high, previously accomplished in 1982-83 and 1984-85. Minnesota’s strong conference performance earned the team the No. 4 seed and a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, marking its highest finish since the 2017-18 season.

The Gophers secured three top wins over AP Top 25 opponents, including two victories over top-10 teams, marking the program’s first season with multiple top-10 wins since 2003-04. Highlights included a win over No. 21 USC and victories over No. 10 Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and No. 10 Ohio State at The Barn. The win over Iowa marked the program’s first top-10 road victory since 2003. The team’s three ranked wins were its most since the 2017-18 season.

The regular-season success paid off, as Minnesota finished with a No. 18 ranking in the AP Poll, a No. 19 ranking in the USA TODAY/WBCA Coaches Poll, and a No. 9 NET ranking, the third highest in the Big Ten. Minnesota earned the opportunity to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed, its highest seed since 2005 when Minnesota was a No. 3 seed. It marked the program’s 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2018, its first time hosting since 2005 and just the fourth time doing so in program history.

During his second season at Minnesota, VanWinkle assisted the Gophers to a 25-11 mark and winning the 2025 WBIT (Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament). The Maroon & Gold recorded their first 25 win season since 2004-05 (26-8, 12-4 B1G) and back-to-back 20 win seasons since 2017-18 and 2018-19. VanWinkle assisted in coaching Amaya Battle and Grace Grocholski to All-Big Ten Honorable Mention accolades.

In his first season in the Twin Cities, VanWinkle and the Gophers won 20 games, finishing with an overall record of 20-16. The squad reached the WNIT Championship game and finished as the runner-up. In 2023-24, VanWinkle helped coach a pair of All-Big Ten Honorable Mention guards in Mara Braun and Amaya Battle while also coaching Grace Grocholski to a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection.

In 2022-23 at West Virginia VanWinkle aided the Mountineers to an 19-12 record and a spot in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. He coordinated all video that was used for scouting, recruiting and player development. He produced analytics for all practices and games and was the director of high school and youth camps in Morgantown.

While serving as the graduate assistant for ISU, VanWinkle was a member of a staff that led the Redbirds to 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 during his first year as a GA and went 73-45 during his four total seasons with the team.

Additionally, he contributed to the individual development of two All-MVC guards the 2022 MVC Tournament MVP JuJu Redmond during his time at Illinois State. His other duties included assisting the team’s video coordinator with team and individual practice film, game film and opponent scouting.

VanWinkle also assisted with opponent scouting, practice planning, game preparation, player development, recruiting, in-game analytics, team travel and operations while at ISU.

A native of New Paris, Ohio, VanWinkle completed his bachelor’s in business administration from Illinois State in 2020. He went on to earn his master’s in sport management from ISU in 2022.