Inductees

Not far from Highway 71 in northwest Missouri, in a community hugged by nearly endless corn fields, folks helped fuel her passion for basketball.

Taren O’Brien Martin looks back now on her childhood in Savannah with nothing but fondness, right down to the night she played on despite her eye splitting open.

For teammates, coaches, fellow students who packed the gym and locals who cheered on Savannah High School, there aren’t enough thank-yous.

“There are so many people at Savannah I could name and really it was the entire community that was very supportive of our girls basketball program,” Martin said. “I got to play with some really good players my four years there, and what was special was our bond. We had an amazing culture there!”

Martin certainly made her mark in the game, and that’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Martin with its Class of 2025.

A three-sport All-State athlete in tennis, basketball and track and 2000 graduate, she sparked Savannah’s basketball teams to three state runner-up finishes. In the track, she placed second in the state in the 4×800 relay. In 2021, she was inducted into the Savannah Hall of Fame.

Martin played basketball at Illinois State from 2000 to 2004. In her senior season, she averaged 11.4 points, 4.6 assists and 2.6 steals per game, while leading the Redbirds to the team’s best record since 1996-97. She received Illinois State’s Jill Hutchison Endowed Scholarship in 2003 and the Jill Hutchison Coach’s Award for her leadership and performance. Martin was the first Redbird to record 300 assists, 250 made free-throws, 150 steals and 100 3-pointers.

From there, Martin coached Eureka College near St. Louis from 2010 to 2013. She was the 2012 conference Coach of the Year, and her 2012 team won 21 games – the program’s fourth 20-win season. The team set Eureka single-game records in points scored (114), 3-point field goals (11), assists (35) and steals (41).

These days, she is in her 13^th season as the top assistant of the University of Alabama-Birmingham women’s basketball team, having helped them to 211 victories, and a Conference USA regular-season championship.

“I grew up playing tennis and basketball. I loved playing both as my older sister, who is five years older than me, did both,” Martin said. “Whatever she did, I wanted to do. Our dad introduced us to both and had us active since we were 4 years old.”

Martin became a regular at Missouri Western State University basketball camps, and her parents – both high school teachers – made the sacrifices.

In the summers, there was AAU basketball, with coaches Charlee Lee and Mike McCall helping her basketball IQ, and then high school coach Brad Oyler her first two years.

“He coached my sister and always allowed me to come to the gym in middle school to watch his practices,” Martin said of Oyler. “He brought me up as a freshman and started me halfway through the season. That was a big deal back then. I am always thankful for that experience as it showed his belief in me.”

All the time spent in travel ball made the winters all worth it.

“All of our home games were special. Anyone that came to one of our home games, knows how electric that gym was,” Martin said. “Our student section was always fun and had themes every game.”

So were the Elite Eight games on the Central Missouri campus, where one year she dove for a loose ball and Martin and another player collided head-to-head.

“My eye split open and had to be taken off to get it butterflied up,” Martin said. “The trainer/doctor told me that they are going to butterfly it now but you are done for the day. You can’t play. I looked at them and said absolutely not, butterfly it and I am playing. I don’t care what I look like.”

In college, she was on the floor for Illinois State the night that Missouri State’s Jackie Stiles (MSHOF 2001) set the NCAA’s all-time scoring record.

Along the way, the influence of then-Illinois State coach Robin Pingeton and assistant Randy Norton paved her way into coaching.

In Birmingham, she and her husband, Patrick, are raising daughter Ryleigh and sons Jackson, Tyson and Treyson. All as Taren makes a difference.

“I started off wanting to be a mentor for athletes and push them farther than they think they could go,” Martin said. “I never wanted an athlete to think they couldn’t do something.”