Meet the Basketball Coaches

Riley begins his second year as varsity coach for the Omaha Roadrunners.  He believes that basketball can teach young men communication, effort, discipline, and Godly leadership to be used in the home, at work, and in ministry.

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Riley played homeschool basketball for six years, his last two for the Omaha Roadrunners where he lead them to a Division II National Championship.  He has coached with the Roadrunners at various levels for eight years.  During those either years his teams have won multiple accolades including the Junior High Missouri Valley District Title in 2019.

He is married to Martina, a former homeschool player and current Roadrunner Volleyball coach.  They have two kids, Finley (3) and Scout (1).  

Pending Update

Currently out of retirement to coach in the his 2nd season on staff at Iowa Western CC Men’s Basketball…and in addition will direct the 14U Team this season for the Omaha RoadRunners.

A graduate of local Platteview HS, married over half a century to former Cindy Hellerich of Valparaiso, NE, and along with his wife are both retired career school teachers in Western Iowa. Two grown children, girl and a boy — both currently career US Naval Officers, and former college athletes…his son in basketball in the Big Ten. He has four grandchildren, the oldest of which recently completed her college basketball career at the university level in California, and is now enrolled at UNMC pursuing a career as a physician, while residing with her grandparents here in Council Bluffs.

Coach Brunson has been a career coach, having coached both baseball & basketball at a high degree of success at the collegiate level, also served as college AD at two institutions. He served many years as an assistant basketball coach, one at the Div. 1 level, and as a collegiate head coach has won a national title, a couple national scoring leaders, four Coach-of-the-Year awards. Coach Brunson has routinely broken school scoring records at both the college and HS levels. At the HS level he was successful at turning two local schools in the greater Omaha area, one on each side of the river, from routine losers into big winners — complete with a double digit number of school records. For those efforts he was nominated twice for Coachof- the-Year within the Omaha Metro Coaches Association. He was also nominated for the Hall of Fame at one of his collegiate employment stops, where he served only 3 years after gaining regional and national attention for excellence of results coaching both baseball and basketball.

Dane is married to Emily and together they have 6 children: Amya, Gabriel, Wyatt, Mercy, Micah, and Selah.  Dane enjoys serving the homeschool community in the Omaha metro area as a board member and a basketball coach for the Omaha Roadrunners.  He believes that every aspect of our lives are a gift from God for us to steward and bring him glory.  Sports should be no different.  He has a vision for the Christian Homeschool community in Omaha to grow and be able to provide even greater resources to its families.  He would like to see the Roadrunners to be an key player towards that end.

Dave is beginning his 2nd season as 18U Assistant Coach. Dave and his wife, Melia, have 11 children and have been a part of Roadrunner sports for 12 years. They have graduated 1 son through basketball, currently have 7 kids playing basketball/volleyball, and have 3 littles still to come. Dave played basketball, football, and baseball in high school and continued playing pick-up basketball through college and beyond. It is his great privilege to be able to coach 3 of his sons this year, as well as a group of amazing young men.

This is Tiffany's fourth year coaching Roadrunner basketball.  She has played sports throughout high school and went on to play basketball and track in college. She is married to Paul. They have homeschooled all five children, two of which are graduates.  Tiffany loves the gift of sports, and the opportunity to encourage young ladies towards a stronger relationship with the Lord using the platform of athletics.

Wesley played basketball for the Omaha Roadrunners for 4 years. During his time playing, he helped lead the team to 2 Division II National Championships.  In his junior year, he was the Heartland Regional offensive player of the year.  He is the Roadrunner's all-time leading scorer and the leader in shots made, three-pointers made, and three-point percentage.  He has been an assistant coach for the Roadrunners for 6 years now.  He is currently engaged to his fiancé Kelsey Marr, an assistant coach on the roadrunner volleyball team. 

Stephen played basketball for the Omaha Roadrunners for seven years.  During his time he lead the Roadrunners to a Silver Ball in 2019.  His senior year he set the single season records for points scored, points per game, shots made, free-throws made, and steals.  This lead him to winning Missouri Valley District & Heartland Regional player of the year, as well as a First Team All-Nation selection. 

Stephen currently is employed at Malloy Electric as an electrical motor mechanic.  He has been married to his wife Arianna for 1 1/2 years, and greatly enjoys life as a husband.  He believes basketball can teach young people so much.  Responsibility, how to work together, mental toughness, determination, competitiveness.  Ultimately he believes it will teach young people how to work hard in life and do everything for the glory of God.  Those are important qualities he learned through Roadrunner basketball, and hopes to pass those on to others.  

Vincent Yates was born and raised in Omaha Nebraska. He was homeschooled from 2nd - 12th grade and also attended Northwest High-school part time. He played basketball for the Omaha Lightning for eight years. After graduating in 2015 he went on to play college basketball at Grace University and began coaching in 2017. Vincent currently works at Orion Advisor Tech as a Project Manager and is married to his wife Michelle and they have two children. Their daughter Penelope is two and their son Cillian is five months old. In his free time he enjoys golfing and working on cars.

Brendan "Big Shimmy" Vankat has been coaching for 4 years now and is the oldest of 11 siblings.  He played for the Roadrunners from 6th-12th grade and believes the Roadrunners were one of the most influential parts of his life.  Brendan is currently employed with Amazon and works as a maintenance technician.  He believes the Roadrunner program is a great outlet for homeschoolers to grow in their faith, learn valuable lessons through basketball, and grow friendships that will last forever.  He's looking forward to coaching all of his brothers through high school.