Playing in memory of late father, Memphis commit Tanyuel Welch continues to shine
INDIANAPOLIS (BVM) – Tanyuel Welch has thrived throughout her basketball career, and is still doing so today. However, over the last few years, taking the hardwood has been a bit different than it used to be.
When she was little, Welch was introduced to basketball by her parents, with her father, Miguel, training her to play. Throughout her youth career, Miguel would be at each of Tanyuel’s games, supporting his daughter and giving her pointers to get better.
“He was a real outgoing person, he was a leader, he was funny, definitely a comedian,” Tanyuel said. “He was just a real man, he always took care of his business and did whatever he could for his family. He’d do anything for his family. As far as basketball, he really taught me everything I know.”
However, by the time Tanyuel reached high school, things had changed. In 2018, Miguel was diagnosed with stage four renal medullary carcinoma, a rare form of kidney cancer. Initially, Tanyuel and her younger siblings were not sure what was wrong with their father nor how severe his illness truly was.
“Him and my mom had already knew everything that was going on and they were trying to keep it away from me and my brothers because they just didn’t want us taking it too hard and it distracting us from school and sports and all that,” Tanyuel said. “But I was concerned and none of that mattered when it came to him and his health, I just wanted to know.”
While Miguel was cooking one night, Tanyuel tried to find out more information. She threw out a few different possibilities that his illness could be, but once she said ‘cancer,’ she had her answer.
“Everybody got quiet and he and my mom looked at each other, and he told me, ‘yeah,’” Tanyuel said.
From there, Tanyuel did research, finding out that most forms of kidney cancer have a decent survival rate. However, soon came the devastating news that the cancer was stage four as well as a rare and aggressive strain.
“I was like, ‘Ain’t nothing wrong with you, you should be able to beat it, you’re really strong and I’m sure this should be like a cold to you,’” Tanyuel added. “But eventually, he sat the whole family down and he told us it was stage four and it was a rare type of cancer … We took that pretty hard.”
As anyone would, Tanyuel began losing sleep over the matter, trying to do more research to see what could be done. Sadly, Miguel was given just three to six months to live. Yet, being true to who he was, Miguel tried to keep things positive, encouraging his kids to stay strong.
The Welch family did so, bonding closer than they ever had, whether that meant changing what they eat to match Miguel’s new diet, or staying home to watch movies together.
“I actually feel like it brought us closer as a family,” Tanyuel said.
Miguel continued to train Tanyuel and her younger brother in basketball, and was still living a normal life through the early part of his diagnosis. He would beat the timetable to live initially given to him, and made it to Tanyuel’s basketball games into her junior year.
However, his health was slowly getting worse, and by 2020, things began to go downhill.
“As the years went on, you could see his health declining,” Tanyuel said. “There were points in time where we would get news that his cancer was shrinking, and we would all get excited. And then a couple of weeks later we would get news that it got even bigger.”
By 2020, Miguel was unable to do basic functions such as eating. Tanyuel’s mother, Tanquetta, stayed home as his nurse, and Tanyuel would also help care for her father while taking on additional responsibilities such as making meals for the family.
With COVID-19 impacting so many in a negative way at that time, the Welch family actually found it to be a positive, as the family was able to stay home and spend some of Miguel’s last moments together.
“If it wasn’t for Covid, I wouldn’t have had the time that I had with him,” Tanyuel explained. “I was able to stay in his room every night and just do my schoolwork since it was virtual.”
However, as the calendar turned to 2021, things got worse. Miguel had tumors forming all over his body, and was barely able to do so much as speak. On April 4, 2021, Miguel passed away at the age of 39.
While they knew this could happen for some time, it did not make losing the rock of the Welch family any easier.
“He was a big piece of the family and it will always feel like somebody is missing,” Tanyuel said. “His personality and his presence is just irreplaceable.”
Tanyuel soon went back to playing AAU basketball just days after her father had passed, getting back on the hardwood where she had such fond memories of Miguel.
“We had his funeral that week and a day later I had to get back on the court,” Tanyuel said. “I only did it because I know that’s what he would’ve wanted for me … I promised him I would do that before he passed.”
Remarkably, Tanyuel scored over 20 points in her first game back. However, afterwards, the moment hit her.
“After that game, I got in the car and I just cried so hard,” Tanyuel said. “After games like that, I would look over or he’d be standing there waiting on me, just smiling, rocking back and forth, excited to talk about it. And no matter how good I played he would’ve found something to criticize me for. It really just hit me.”
Understandably, Tanyuel’s play suffered a bit throughout the rest of the tournament, but just the fact that she was back out on the court already was quite a feat.
Throughout her life, basketball has come easier than most to Tanyuel, but she has also put in an incredible amount of work to get to where she is at. After a strong youth career with the Gym Rats, the 5-foot-10 guard began her high school career at North Central, joining a program full of elite talent.
In her freshman season, Tanyuel had to get used to playing alongside and against older girls than she was used to as a starter for North Central. But her development was evident that first season and as a sophomore when she became a true leader for the Panthers and an all-county player.
“It was different now, I was in charge,” Tanyuel said about her sophomore season. “I adjusted really quickly. Every year, I improved in almost every category whether it was scoring, rebounding, steals or assists. I always looked to grow as a player no matter what. Not only that, but helping my team grow as well, making everybody better.”
Of course, Tanyuel’s junior season was made difficult by what was going on off the court, but she still found a way to excel on the hardwood, becoming an all-conference performer.
“I was able to stay focused because I always just believed what’s for me would come to me,” Tanyuel said. “I just continued to work hard and let it come to me.”
However, the North Central senior saved her best for last this past winter. Prior to the season she was named an Indiana Ms. Basketball candidate, and proved she was one of the best prospects in the state all winter, averaging nearly 19 points per game.
Some truly special milestones occurred during and after the season, beginning with Tanyuel scoring her 1,000th career point in November.
“That game was very emotional, not only because of that but because we also played our rival school,” Tanyuel said. “When I scored that 1000th point, it really just hit me. All the stuff that I’d been through, all the years that I played with that program, an accomplishment like that just shows how far I had come. It was really emotional.”
After the season concluded, Tanyuel was named a first team all-state player, named to the All-USA Central Indiana Super Team First-Team, and became an Indiana All-Star.
“It just shows you that the hard work, everything that you’ve put in, even when you were younger, it all paid off,” Tanyuel added. “It’s just a big accomplishment.”
Yet, perhaps the most important part of her final high school season was playing for her father, and remembering what he would do and say had he been able to watch his daughter’s senior season.
“I just dedicated the entire year for him,” Tanyuel said. “This is my last year, I hate that he’s not physically here to see it. Everything that I’d done these past three years and all the improvement I made, I might as well leave it on the floor and that’s what I did. I thought about him before every game, I thought about what he’d say to me. I’d think about when I played really good, how excited he’d be … It really pushed me and kept me going. The way he pushed and kept going when he was fighting cancer is the same type of energy I wanted to use on the court.”
Tanyuel’s basketball career is far from over, and she has aspirations of playing professionally someday.
“I absolutely do believe I could go professional,” Tanyuel mentioned. “If I continue to work hard and put my mind to that goal, I strongly believe I’ll be able to make it to that level.”
First, however, she will head south to Tennessee to join the Memphis Tigers. Tanyuel had plenty of mid-major and some high-level interest and offers from schools like Butler, Indiana State, Ball State, Kentucky and Nebraska. But Memphis stuck with the point guard and was the school that has given her a chance.
“Memphis came along and they had seen me before,” Tanyuel said. “I started talking with the coaches and getting to know them and they wanted to give me a chance … I went on a visit, they offered me, and on that visit I accepted the offer.”
A big reason the North Central senior got noticed by Memphis and others was thanks to her time playing with Indiana Elite, a program she will forever be thankful for.
“That program means so much to me,” Tanyuel said. “We were a really stacked team. We built bonds that will last a long time. It was just overall a really good experience.”
Tanyuel will join a program that hopes to soon be on the rise under the direction of head coach Katrina Merriweather who has been with Memphis for a little over a year now.
“I’m very, very excited,” Tanyuel said. “I feel like Memphis is going to become more known for women’s basketball and blow up with the people they have over there and are bringing in, including myself.”
Whether it’s Memphis or anywhere else Tanyuel’s bright future in basketball takes her, the memories of her father will never leave her side. She will always continue playing in honor of Miguel, and knows he would be proud with what she has achieved in the past year, and what she is about to accomplish at Memphis.
“I will still continue to play in honor of him,” Tanyuel said. “My game is based off of him and I will continue to let that be known wherever I go.”
