University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2025
- Class:
- 1988
From the moment she stepped onto the court at the old West Gym, Diane Roberts gave UNI a spark on her way to becoming the Panthers' most efficient women's basketball player of the 1980s.
An Eldora, Iowa native, Roberts played for Northern Iowa from 1984 to 1988 and made an immediate impact as a freshman forward for a Panther team that faced stiff competition in only its second season as a Division I program under head coach Kim Mayden.Â
Playing a program record 38.5 minutes per game, she scored a then-team single-season record 541 points with 19.3 points a game, while also notching a school record 231 made shots on 448 attempts, along with 100 offensive rebounds to earn First Team All-Gateway Conference honors.Â
Roberts notably played one of her best games in March of 1985, setting single-game team records for points (40), made field goals (17) and field goal attempts (31) against Illinois State.
After earning All-Gateway Honorable Mention recognition as a sophomore in 1986, Roberts posted another strong season in 1986-87, averaging 16.9 points a game to be named Second Team All-Gateway.
Known for her record breaking performances on the floor, Roberts finished her career as UNI's all-time leading scorer with 1,701 career points, currently ranking sixth today. She was also the first player in team history to average over 16 points per game, finishing with 16.8 points per contest, a record that still stands to this day.
With 19 career double-double games to her name, Roberts also set career program records in made field goals (664) and field goal attempts (1,552), and also shot 38.4% from beyond the three-point arc. She finished her Panther career with the third-most offensive rebounds in team history (271), as well as second in both career free throws made (320) and free throws attempted (441).
Currently, Diane and her husband Lawrence reside in Dike, Iowa where she has been a High School Business Teacher and volleyball coach for 22 years at Dike-New Hartford School. Diane has taken 18 teams to the state tournament with nine state championships and four state runner-up finishes. She was named the Iowa Coach of the Year 11 times, awarded the Distinguished Coach of the Year in 2018 by the IGHSAU and inducted into the National High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 2022.
