Michelle Warner '99 could see the writing on the wall. Young children in her hometown community needed more positive role models.

At first, the Danville native didn't exactly know how to accomplish her goal. But she soon realized she had a powerful weapon in her arsenal — the game of basketball.
 
The former Averett University women's basketball standout ran with the idea and soon found herself mentoring young women in the Dan River region, teaching them the ropes of basketball. While Warner is happy to have the opportunity to affect positive change in her community, she is quick to modestly downplay her role.
 
"If a parent or kid asks me to help them, and I can, I try to do it," Warner said. "They don't have many free camps you can go to around here and some of these kids can't afford organized camp and being that person growing up, it feels good."
 
And what a mentor Warner's players have in her.
 
Warner currently sits atop the Averett women's basketball program's all-time scoring list with 1,442 points in 98 career games from 1995-99. The four-year standout also holds the program records for most points in a single game (39), points in a season (486) most career field goals (568) and career blocks (91). In addition to being the top scorer, she ranks in the top 10 in rebounding (709). She earned USA South All-Conference First Team honors in 1996-97 and 1998-99, and made the 1995 USA South All-Tournament Team. She also played three seasons of softball for the Cougars.

But the kids working with Warner really benefit from her modesty and sense of teamwork.
 
"I really didn't know I had all these records," Warner said. "I knew I had the single-game scoring record, but I didn't know about these other categories. They would've been much more important if all these categories were as a team. I've always believed there's no 'I' in team, so while my statistics meant something, it was always better when we got a win behind it.
 
"It doesn't matter if I'm scoring 50 points a game because for me, without a win, it just makes me look selfish, but my school or team didn't get the win because I had a lot of great players behind me that helped me get those records, so I wish we could've got a few more wins for them."
 
Warner's mix of humility and her understanding of sisterhood has been her winning combination and it has earned her a spot in the 2017 Averett Athletics Hall of Fame class.
 
"When I was first called about the Hall of Fame, I was really shocked and didn't know what to say," Warner said. "I knew I was a good enough ballplayer, but I didn't think it would happen because we didn't win a lot while I was there. But I had a lot of emotions swimming through my head, but I was thrilled to receive the news and accept the nomination."
 
In typical fashion, Warner was in the middle of carrying out a good deed when she received the call.
 
"I was coming out of Lowe's from buying sheet rock to help this small church," Warner said. "Their basement got flooded in the rain and it needed it replacing, so I was in the middle of that when I received the call."
 
Buzz Lightyear from the "Toy Story" movies is famous for the saying, "Never give up, never surrender." Listening to Warner, one gets the sense the writers of the hit Pixar movies borrowed it from her.
 
In the middle of a game during her junior year, Warner received news she had a stress fracture in her tibia and would have to sit out the rest of the season. She discovered she'd already played in too many games to receive a redshirt and that her injury meant she'd lose her junior year.
 
For a consummate teammate like Warner, it was news that aggravated her.
 
"It was eating me up because I couldn't play, and I knew I was a big asset to the team," said Warner. "But I knew basketball wasn't a one-person game so all I could do is encourage my teammates they could do it without me, but I'm going to be there at practice and the games like usual.
 
"I grew up playing ball," she added. "I played street ball when I was growing up and just always played, so basketball really helps pick me up when I'm down. So, that was tough. But my teammates encouraged me to stay positive and convinced me I could come back my senior year. But at the same time while I was hearing them, I was still mad because it was eating me up to see my team need help and know there was nothing I could do."
 
The positivity coming from her teammates soaked into Warner, and she stuck it out. And now that her collegiate playing days are behind her, tenacity is something she preachers to her current players.
 
"You can't ever give up," Warner said. "Just because something isn't going right for you, don't quit. You're not going to be able to get every shot in whether it's basketball or life. Everything can't go in so don't give up your hopes and dreams of becoming a ballplayer just because you had one or two bad games. Everything's not going to fall on a platter for you."
 
Warner is currently employed with APL Logistics — a distributing company in Danville — that manufactures and distributes sinks, faucets and countertops.
 
Even though she now dominates a warehouse floor and not the maple hardwood of a basketball court, Warner still uses one main lesson she learned as a student-athlete at Averett.
 
"For me, playing sports at Averett prepared me to work with people team-wise," Warner said. "As a person, it helped me deal with the cultural and language differences you have to deal with. It's helped me learn how to be around and understand people from different cultures and backgrounds. I had so many different frames of references to learn from when I was at Averett and that's benefited me greatly."