Coaching Staff

Head Coach Tracee Fairbanks

Coach Fairbanks strives to install all of the things coaches want in a prominent basketball player: dedication, meeting challenges, teamwork, sportsmanship, and overall competitive spirit. She wants her student-athletes to be prepared on and off the court: not only in being prepared mentally and physically for game situations, but also that they have the overall capacities to prosper in the daily rigors of life off of the court. It is Coach Fairbanks' aspiration that all her players take something positive from the program and leave a better overall person than when they arrived at Doane.

Coach Fairbanks believes strongly in, and aims to live by the words she once heard from a motivational speaker, "Someday everything that you have (own) will someday be someone else's, but what you are, is yours."  Her philosophy in basketball coincides with those words: the teaching and delivery of basketball fundamentals by coaches, and the desire to learn and work toward acquiring sound fundamentals by athletes are part of the person.  The efforts one puts in, transpires into the end result:  hard work, a passion to win while understanding that losing isn't fatal and the ability to respect one another are the intangibles that are bound to a person and no one can take that away without that person's permission.

Coach Fairbanks is also well known for using quotes. Two of her more popular quotes that hang in her office are: "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it" - Thomas Jefferson & "Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." - Lou Holtz

In her spare time, Tracee enjoys spending time with her husband, Jeremy, and their daughters, Brynna and Gracey. Tracee also enjoys reading books and the occasional shopping.

Assistant Coach Rick Schmuecker joined the Tiger coaching staff in 2003, but is no stranger to the NAIA and the Great Plains Athletic Conference.

Prior to Doane, he attended Midland Lutheran College and graduated with a degree in business administration/accounting with a minor in coaching. He served as an undergrad assistant for the women's program for two years. At MLC, he helped with on-court coaching and film exchange.

At Doane, Schmuecker has served as the guard's and post's coach. He works with post position currently after spending four years with the guards. Shooting fundamentals and defense are two of the main areas that Schmuecker focuses on for the Tiger players. He is in charge of the Tiger's film exchange and assists in preparing scouting reports on opponents and recruiting, on and off campus.

A member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), he helps organize Doane's efforts each February to raise awareness for cancer research through The V Foundation and Kay Yow Cancer Research Fund. He also aided in the Doane Volleyball team's efforts for Dig Pink, raising awareness for breast cancer in October.

Schmuecker is a member of the NAIA-SIDA (Sports Information Director's Association) and has received numerous awards for Doane publications and Web site content. He is also a member of CoSIDA (College Sports Information Director's of America), receiving Second Place honors in the Special Event Media Guide category for the NAIA National Volleyball Tournament game program last year. He has helped Doane athletes earn four Academic All-American honors in three years, the first in the school's history, as well as several All-District Academic honors.

Assistant Coach Nicole Gruntorad joined the Doane coaching staff in 2008.  Gruntorad is currently enrolled at Doane College-Lincoln working on her Master's Degree.

Gruntorad graduated from Wayne State College in 2006 with a degree in Human Service Counceling. She started her playing career in her hometown, attending the University of Nebraska-Kearney. With Wayne State, she helped lead the program to it's first NSIC championship and the school's first berth in the NCAA Division II tournament.

She was named the conference player-of-the-year and was named honorable mention WBCA/Daktronics Kodak All-American. Gruntorad totaled 1,298 point during her college playing days and was named the Wayne State Female Athlete-of-the-Year following her senior season.

At Doane, Gruntorad serves as the guards coach. She plays a pivotal role in recruiting with work done behind the scenes as well as going out and visiting with potential recruits. Gruntorad assists in film breakdown on opponents and in prepping for upcoming opponents.

Anderson was a four-year starter for the Tigers and helped the team to the NAIA National Tournament during her freshman season when she was second in scoring with 12.2 points per game. She became the school's all-time leading scorer during January 2009 against the University of Sioux Falls when she poured in 26 points.

She also excelled in the classroom where she was a NAIA Scholar-Athlete and ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 selection which covers student-athletes from NCAA Division II through the Junior College level.