Greg Lansing and Teri Moren are fiercely competitive and intense coaches.  They have coached in more elite conferences - Lansing in the Big Ten and Moren in the Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Both are in their first seasons as head basketball coaches at Indiana State University. And they have a common goal - winning.

Moren leads Sycamore women

Moren, who brings a 130-73 coaching record to Indiana State, is a tried and true Hoosier.

"Growing up in Seymour, I was fortunate to grow up in a neighborhood of all guys and we all played sports," she recalled. "I flourished on the basketball court, which became my passion."

That passion led her to Purdue University, where she played for legendary coach Lin Dunn. A two-year starter, she was a member of the 1991 Boilermaker squad that captured the Big Ten championship.

Moren graduated and went into coaching, serving as an assistant at Butler and Northwestern before taking the top jobs at University of Indianapolis and Georgia Tech, where she encountered elite programs such as North Carolina, Duke and Maryland and coached against Gino Auriemma's University of Connecticut Huskies.

"Whatever the level, coaching hasn't changed. The biggest difference is the athletes," she said, adding that elite programs, such as Duke, get the best athletes who can get baskets just on physicality. At smaller schools, it takes a good coach to teach players how to work together.

"I've been fortunate to play and prepare for the best of the best. I went to Georgia Tech to become a better coach. By preparing for those elite teams, there's no doubt I improved as a coach."

When the opportunity came to return to her home state, she jumped at the chance.

"I missed the love that Hoosiers have for basketball," Moren said. "My heart and mind was always in the Midwest. It has been a dream to return as a Division I head coach to the state of Indiana."

After being introduced April 3, Moren's first order of business was putting together a solid coaching staff.

"Putting together a staff is one of the most important tasks," Moren said, adding it's important to have coaches who complement each other.

"All of my assistants have different personalities," she said. "Mel [Boeglin] and Cammie [Campbell] coach from their experience. They communicate and teach in a different style. Mel is calm. I'm more intense."

At Indiana State, Moren reunited with Clint Weddle, who was a member of her staff during seven seasons at the University of Indianapolis.

"I played against Clint when he was at Oakland City," Moren said. "He came to the University of Indianapolis to be a better coach."

According to Moren, Weddle accomplished just that.

"Clint is an excellent coach. I lean on him - he's my right-hand man in critical situations."

Between playing and moving up the coaching ranks she's competed against many coaches, but Moren says that Dunn - her collegiate coach - was one of the toughest.

"As a coach, you're always hardest on your point guard," Moren explained. "Because I was her point guard, she was extremely tough. I learned from and respected her."

While Auriemma and Pat Summitt are considered women's basketball coaching royalty, Moren admires lesser-known names who have won using talent available to them, such as Nancy Winstel at Northern Kentucky.

"I admire coaches who may not have top talent but coach them to be great," she added.

When talking about her Sycamore squad, it's clear she likes the direction the team is going.

"They are a joy to coach - 12 women with different personalities who are good, eager kids who want success and to be a part of something special. They are unselfish - they give each other credit when talking with the media. They're all about team. That's refreshing."

Moren's squad got off to a good start in conference play, winning their first two games, but Moren is quick to remind fans that it's still early.

"The conference is strong this year. Every night, it's going to be a dog fight," Moren said. "We need to be ready to play every night because upsets do happen."

As the season progresses, fans will begin to see the hallmarks of a Moren team.

"Defensively, we're going to change things up and be unpredictable," she said. "We want to be up-tempo - the kids like to play that way and the fans like that style. Offensively, we will be disciplined and make every possession count."

In her return to the Hoosier state, Moren has found the basketball passion that she missed.

"We have great fans," Moren said. "This is a special place for women's basketball. That doesn't happen everywhere."

Lansing takes on leading men's team

Lansing is a familiar face on the Sycamore sideline as he served eight years at ISU as an assistant. He also spent seven years as an assistant for Steve Alford at Iowa. He's spent more than 20 years in coaching, beginning at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa.

Then, on one July afternoon, his dream of being a head coach came true.

"It was something I had always wanted," Lansing said. "Indiana State means a great deal to me and my family. To coach here is an honor."

It's fair to say that coaching is in Lansing's blood. His father, Dave, coached high school basketball for 33 years in Iowa.

"My earliest memories are being at his practices and games," Lansing recalled. "My life revolved around basketball. My dad didn't have other interests - basketball was it."

The old adage "Like father, like son" applies to Lansing.

"I resemble that because I don't have a lot of other interests either," he lamented. "My dad had a focus and a strong work ethic - he worked hard at coaching and devoted his life to it."

The elder Lansing taught his son a valuable lesson - try to get better every day and out-work the opponent.

With a coach in the house, it was inevitable that Lansing would pick up the round ball and blaze his own trail as an athlete before going into coaching. The University of South Dakota alumnus helped his school reach the NCAA Division II Tournament during his junior and senior seasons, the first NCAA invitation for USD since 1954. He was twice named the South Dakota Defensive Player of the Year and currently ranks among the leaders in career assists at USD.

Having coached at both the high school and collegiate level, Lansing prefers the college ranks.

"Don't get me wrong, coaching high school was the best years of my life," he said. "At that level, you have more of a chance to influence the type of man an athlete will become. But coaching at the college level gives me the chance to challenge men academically, socially and athletically."

In addition to lessons learned from his dad, Lansing is also putting to good use what he learned from the coaches who have influenced him - Royce Waltman and Alford.

"Both are outstanding X's and O's guys and are very competitive," Lansing explained. "Within the game, no one was more clever that Waltman in making adjustments coming out of time-outs. Alford was a master in preparation."

Like Moren, Lansing likes his team and its potential for success.

"They're good, hard working guys. They're the most likable and enjoyable team I've been with," he said, adding they are also high-energy, enthusiastic and unselfish.

Lansing's squad is relatively young, playing four freshmen. While he has talent, he's missing a true floor general.

"We have leadership by committee right now," he said.

He's seen his team post a perfect record at home, including a win over DePaul and hang tough on the road against two nationally-ranked teams - Notre Dame and Purdue. But Lansing has also witnessed poor performances against Ball State and Wyoming.

"In both of those cases, travel caught up with us," Lansing said, adding it speaks to the lack of toughness. "I'm hoping that is behind us."

"I know we have talent," Lansing said. "We didn't put Notre Dame, DePaul and Purdue on the schedule just to play them. We wanted to win."

Lansing's goal is to take Indiana State back to the NCAA tournament and the winning ways of 10 years ago. He brought Michael Menser, Matt Renn and other members of the 1999-2001 teams back earlier this year to honor them for their accomplishments.

"I wanted to revive those memories a bit," Lansing explained. "I also wanted to show my guys that this can be done through recruiting and hard work."

While he wasn't on the sidelines during those years, he formed lasting friendships with them.

He's very close to Menser, who is his brother-in-law.  Lansing married Angie Menser, a former track and cross country academic All-American for the Sycamores after proposing to her at the Final Four in Indianapolis. Angie serves as ISU's senior women's administrator and athletics business manager.

Indiana State has become part of Greg Lansing's life, something he's proud of.

"This is a place that I have passion for and that I deeply care about."

Paula Meyer is media relations coordinator at Indiana State.