Tanaeya BoClair: Teaching On And Off The Court

With six new freshmen on the team this year, the upper classmen will be looked upon to be the leaders on and off the court. With four seniors on the team, one of them is stepping up to the line in more ways than one.

Senior Tanaeya BoClair enters her final season as a Ute and not only does she plan to leave behind a legacy on the court, but she plans to extend her leadership skills beyond the court as well.

The San Antonio, Texas, native has been accepted into a program called "Teach for America." The program, which began in 1989, has a mission to enlist, develop, and mobilize future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence.

"Teach for America is about ending education in equity, so it is a lot about finding leaders to put in classrooms," BoClair said. "They want to find people that want to teach the kids leadership skills and how to take control of their own education. They want to empower them."

BoClair is currently pursuing her degree in kinesiology and with help from the Utah athletics academic department, she found out about Teach for America. After an interview over the summer in Washington D.C., BoClair was informed that she had been accepted and would be placed in Milwaukee, Wis. after graduation.

"This summer I will go to something called The Institute, and I will do two months of training," BoClair said. "I will have a mentor that will help me with lesson plans and stuff like that and then I will be able to find my way through summer teaching. It isn't a guarantee that I will do my teaching at the school I intern at during the summer, so I will then have to go on interviews at other schools in the area."

Although she doesn't know what age group she will teach, she is looking forward to putting her skills to the test. With her current degree, BoClair anticipates getting to teach math and science courses. With the combination of her upcoming experience teaching, and upcoming plans to be involved in athletics, BoClair's future is bright.

"I am really interested in sports with it being such a big part of my life," she said. "I am interested in coaching and sport psychology. I find it really interesting how changing the way you think can increase your performance."

Her mentality is something that has stood out among the Utah women's basketball coaching staff as one of her strongest leadership skills, something she will put to the test this fall.

"The biggest thing for me is being consistent and being productive while on the court," BoClair said. "I don't want to be out there wasting time. Every minute that I am on the court, whether I am tired or fresh, I want to be locked in for my teammates and for myself. As a senior and as a captain, I think it is important to be an example through every step."

BoClair will have a chance to set an example and the tone for six newcomers to the team this season, but thanks to a 10-day trip to Italy, the team's chemistry has quickly made the group a whole unit.

"It is about making connections and I have put a big emphasis on that with this being my last year," she said. "Going to Italy definitely helped. All of the freshmen are really cool and fun to be around. We got 10 practices before we left for the trip and I think that helped. It set the tone early. We also got to play a few games and got to have fun playing before we get into the tough games of the regular season."

BoClair averaged 10.1 points through 30 starts last season. The senior has several individual goals this season, including making the Pac-12 all-conference team, but she also wants to enjoy every moment of the journey and take things one step at a time.

"One thing we talk about a lot with Coach Roberts is building our culture here for Utah women's basketball," BoClair said. "What can we do now to leave this program with a better foundation for the younger players."

BoClair has been building that foundation since stepping foot on campus in 2014. Through her academic and athletic career at Utah, BoClair attributes some of her success to the people behind the scenes.

"The support here has been unreal," she said. "From academics, to the coaching staff, to the fans, it has just been amazing how supportive they are and how they are truly invested in us as people. They just care about who you are."

BoClair will head to Milwaukee this summer to start her post-graduate experience with Teach for America, but with her love for athletics, she won't stray far from her passion.

"I just want to be connected to sports for the rest of my life," BoClair said. "The people that you meet and the relationships that you build is probably the coolest part of being an athlete. I want to stay around it."

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Tanaeya BoClair

Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Eastern Kentucky on March 19, 2026 , Loss , 58, to, 72

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus #9 Seed BYU on March 5, 2026 , Loss , 52, to, 70

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus Arizona on February 28, 2026 , Win , 81, to, 67

Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Colorado on February 24, 2026 , Win , 67, to, 64

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus BYU on February 21, 2026 , Loss , 74, to, 86

Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Oklahoma State on February 16, 2026 , Loss , 55, to, 73

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus Cincinnati on February 14, 2026 , Win , 67, to, 59

Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Arizona State on February 11, 2026 , Loss , 61, to, 71

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus Iowa State on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 72, to, 79

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