Former St. Aug’s player is ready to win after finding a new home at Virginia Union

Virginia Union University’s leading scorer, post player Taniyah Greene, is headed into this week’s Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) tournament in Baltimore with the sole goal of helping her team, the No. 2 seed in the North Division, win its first conference championship since 2019.

A season ago, focusing on basketball without distractions was challenging for Greene. In 2024, as a player for St. Augustine’s University (St. Aug’s), Greene was heading into the CIAA tournament as the university grappled with the possibility of losing its accreditation. Greene and other student-athletes did their best to stay focused and finish the basketball season, knowing very well any game could be their last wearing St. Augustine’s uniforms. 

After the season, former St. Augustine’s head women’s basketball coach Ebony Tanner pulled each player aside and asked how she could help. The months of uncertainty about the university’s future compelled Greene and several others to finish their academic careers at other schools. 

“I knew I was going to transfer after this season because I heard about this stuff, about [the school] potentially closing down and stuff like that, for the last three years, actually,” Greene said. “Coach [Tanner], … she had a meeting with us, telling us if we ever needed anything, she would help us. I’ve always had a good relationship with Coach Ebony, so I knew that she would be there for me to help me.”

Greene was instantly attracted to Virginia Union as a transfer destination because she knew the Panthers had a competitive team under head women’s basketball coach Tierra Terry. Greene also thought she would be a good fit for the program after the graduation of the Panthers’ all-conference post-player Ny Langley.

Terry said when she received the phone call from Tanner, it was a no-brainer to add another all-conference player to the team.

“I already knew her game. I was like, ‘I don’t need to see anything. I just need to know if you like it here or not,’” Terry said. ”[We] just had very honest conversations with each other. But I knew she could come in and make an immediate impact in our program. … It’s nice not having to coach against her anymore.”

Within her first few weeks with the Panthers, Greene could instantly see and feel the differences between her new and old programs. 

Under Terry, there’s a strong emphasis on defense and the team has a fast-paced offense. Greene admits that in practice the Panthers run significantly more than she did during her first three seasons of college. Terry also makes the players create scouting reports on their opponents as opposed to the coaches providing the reports.  

“I never had to make my own scouting report. We did get quizzed on them [at St. Augustine’s]. We had to run if we didn’t get it right, but making our own is challenging a little bit because it’s long,” Greene said. “Now we actually see what [the coaches] had to do to make it that long.”

Going into her final season as a graduate student, Greene made a goal to shoot more this upcoming season and work on her jump shot. Before and after practice, Greene is in the gym shooting with assistant coach Jessica Freeman. Last season, Greene made only one three-pointer, but this season she has made 34.4% of her shots from beyond the arc.

“One thing I love about Taniyah is she said she wanted to shoot more, and she came in here and worked on her shot,” Terry said. “Now, people in the conference didn’t realize it. Now they’re like, ‘Oh, she shoots threes.’ She’s made a couple of threes in games that have helped us seal a game. She’s expanding her game so much.”

In addition to working on her shot, Greene believes she has become a better rebounder due to Virginia Union’s emphasis on boxing out, then grabbing rebounds as opposed to jumping up to grab them.

Greene finished the regular season ranked fifth in the CIAA in scoring (15.8 points per game), third in field goal percentage (47.3%) and sixth in total blocked shots (28). She earned all-conference honors for the second time in her collegiate career.

As the season has progressed, the trust between Greene and Terry has continued to grow.  

“[Coach Terry] said, if you can do it, she’ll let me do it,” Greene said. “I just feel like she lets me play. She doesn’t really sub [me out] for mistakes. … She lets me play my game. She’s very honest, her and Coach Freeman.. … So I just knew right away that I needed to be here.” 

Virginia Union guard Rori Cox, who is also a graduate student, described Greene as motivational and supportive.

“As two grad students, I feel me and Taniyah provided leadership to the team by always remaining positive even when some games weren’t our best,” Cox said. “[We’re] always uplifting our other teammates by showing up with a positive attitude, working hard and giving our best effort. Whether it’s during practice or in games, our actions set the tone for others.” 

When Tanner, who is currently the interim head women’s basketball coach for Elizabeth City State University, faced off against Greene and Virginia Union on Feb. 18, Tanner had to create a game plan against her former star player. Virginia Union ultimately defeated Elizabeth City 73-46, and Greene finished with 13 points.  

“She’s relentless. She doesn’t stop, right? She will spin right, left, up, down, in between. She’s gonna find a way to get the ball in the basket,” Tanner said. “She’s gonna get her hands on rebounds and put the ball in the basket. … She’s not gonna take a second off.”

Tanner remembers encouraging Greene during her junior year to be more vocal on the court and let her game speak for itself. Tanner told her to embrace her “Sasha Fierce” side, named after Beyonce’s alter ego. Although Tanner’s team lost to Virginia Union, watching Greene play reminded her former coach of that conversation years earlier.

“Taniyah’s consistent, like, she has really brought out that Sasha Fierce this year,” Tanner said. “I think this year she’s embraced it completely. She plays with confidence. She is an experienced player. So I’m just proud of her journey. She figured out what she wanted, and she accomplished it.”

After the coronavirus pandemic canceled her 2020-21 freshman season, Greene was given a fifth year of eligibility and wants to end her final collegiate basketball season with a conference championship. 

A season ago, Greene’s team was knocked out in the quarterfinal round by Elizabeth City State. This season Greene and the Panthers’ path to the CIAA tournament championship will begin on Thursday in the CIAA quarterfinals against Claflin University.

“I want to win,” Greene said. “That’s really it at the end of the day. It might be hard some days, but in the back of my head, I want to win. I know why I’m here, and that’s why [Coach Terry] brought me here.”