Tatum Veitenheimer enters her second season as an assistant coach and internal recruiting coordinator for Abilene Christian women's basketball in 2025-26. She joined the program in May 2024 on the heels of a playing career that took her to Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
ACU experienced its deepest postseason run in the program’s 12-year Division I history in 2024-25. The Wildcats reached the Super 16 round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament for the first time ever, building a 22-13 record with a 9-7 mark in Western Athletic Conference play. ACU accrued its most victories, highest overall winning percentage and highest conference winning percentage since 2020.
Four-year veteran Bella Earle led the charge on the All-WAC First Team and WAC All-Defensive Team, while sophomore Meredith Mayes was an All-WAC Second Team selection. The Wildcats made a living on the defensive side of the ball, forcing the 14th-most turnovers in the nation at 21.5 per game and ranked 30th with 10.5 steals per game.
Prior to joining the ACU staff, Veitenheimer spent the 2023-24 campaign as a graduate manager at Texas Tech as the Lady Raiders went 17-16 and reached the second round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. Texas Tech boasted the sixth-ranked defense in the conference in allowing just 62.8 points per game and was the top free throw-shooting team at 76.3%.
Veitenheimer was selected for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's 'So You Want to Be a Coach' workshop at the 2023 Final Four in Dallas. There, she gained instruction on the competencies of the coaching field, including administration, recruiting, skill development and NCAA rules. Veitenheimer was nominated by Texas Tech head coach Krista Gerlich and selected based on her academic achievements and contributions to the sport.
Before taking a role on the Lady Raiders' staff, Veitenheimer played basketball at the collegiate level as a guard from 2018-23. She spent the last two seasons of her career at Texas Tech, appearing in 60 games with 30 starts. Veitenheimer averaged 19.2 minutes per game, shooting 32.6% from the field with an 86.7% free throw clip. She tallied 111 assists, 91 rebounds and 52 steals.
A Windthorst, Texas native, Veitenheimer began her career with three seasons at Oklahoma. She appeared in 80 games with 46 starts, averaging 23.1 minutes, 3.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Veitenheimer totaled 237 rebounds, 202 assists and 125 steals. As a sophomore in 2019-20, she was second on the team in steals and assists, ranking eighth in the Big 12 in total steals. Her 76 assists in 2018-19 were the fifth-most in program history by a freshman. Off the court, Veitenheimer was a two-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection with the Sooners.
