Lake Forest College

The 2024-25 season was the 17th for Tamlyn Tills at Lake Forest College and 30th as a collegiate head coach.

Under Tills’ direction, the Foresters are now 132-142 in Midwest Conference play during her 17 seasons at the College and Lake Forest has finished in the top half of the league nine times during that span. The 2017-18 MWC Coach of the Year has led her teams to a higher winning percentage than in the previous year 15 times as a collegiate head coach.

At least one Forester has been named All-MWC in 14 of 16 full seasons since Tills came to the College and, under her direction, Katie Neher was named MWC Player of the Year in 2022-23. In addition, a program record 10 of her players earned Academic All-MWC accolades in 2024-25, giving the program 98 such honors under her direction.

The Foresters have broken or matched 37 school records in the last 17 years. Among the marks are a 116-point game, a player making eight three-pointers in a single contest, and the highest field goal percentage for a Forester in a game and career.

Before coming to Lake Forest, Tills was the head coach at Concordia University Chicago for six seasons. She led the 2007-08 Cougars to the semifinals of the conference tournament and came within one win of the program’s record for victories in a season. Her 2003-04 squad was the first in school history to host a first-round game in the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference Tournament and the 2005-06 squad made the program’s first-ever appearance in the league’s championship game. Tills also served as Concordia Chicago's interim athletic director for two years.

Prior to her time at Concordia Chicago, Tills was a head coach for three seasons (1999-2002) at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and four (1992-96) at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Tills earned her 100th career victory overall while coaching at Concordia Chicago in December of 2005, reached the 200-win plateau against Lawrence University in February of 2013, and earned her 300th triumph in the 2023-24 season finale against Beloit College. She became just the second Lake Forest coach to win 100 games at the College when the Foresters defeated Lawrence University 90-32 to close out the 2016-17 season.

Tills was also an NCAA Division I assistant coach at Marquette University from 1987-90 and at California State University-Fullerton from 1996-99. She has experience at the professional level as well, having worked in the front office of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks from 1990-92.

Her coaching career began at Divine Savior Holy Angels High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she was the athletic director and volleyball and basketball coach from 1985-87.

Tills was also a successful player, scoring more than 1,000 career points at both Milwaukee Lutheran High School and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She was an All-American and part of the 1980-81 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women national championship team at La Crosse and is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame.

She resides in nearby Libertyville.