The following was printed on Craig Tanis' HOF plaque:
Heading into the 1988-89 season, the Siena Heights men’s basketball team had recorded ten consecutive winning seasons, but they had never won a district championship or went to nationals. The addition of Hillsdale College transfers Craig Tanis and Mark Merriman to the ’88-89 roster provided the talent and tenacity to end a decade of postseason frustration and begin a small-college basketball dynasty.
Craig Tanis was a hard-nosed, versatile shooting guard who could beat opponents at both ends of the court. He becomes the first player from the Saints’ 1988-89 “Cinderella” team (which was inducted into the SHU Athletic Hall of Fame in the Team category in 1999) to be inducted into the Hall.
Tanis helped propel the Saints to their first NAIA District #23 championship in the spring of 1989 and the March Madness continued when Coach Fred Smith’s club made its first-ever appearance at the NAIA Division I National Tournament. The unseeded Saints upset Southern Arkansas in the first round in Kemper Arena and went on to defeat St. Ambrose College in the second round. The Saints fell to East Central (OK) in the quarterfinals. The ’89 Saints set a school record with 31 wins on the season.
Tanis and the Saints captured their second straight District title in 1990 and returned to Kansas City for the NAIA National Tournament.
Tanis earned All-District honors as a senior in 1991 and ranked third all-time in scoring and first in three-point field goals at the end of his Siena Heights basketball career. Tanis, who prepped at Temperance-Bedford High School, still ranks among the top ten in career scoring and top five in three-point field goals made for the Saints.
