CANTON, Ga. – The dynamic and decorated athletic and academic career for Millsaps College women's basketball's Elyse Warren features an emphatic conclusion as she was voted the 2025-26 Southern Athletic Association's Woman of the Year. The announcement was made by the SAA office on Monday, following a conference-wide Athletic Director's vote. She becomes the first student-athlete in Majors history to earn the conference's highest honor recognizing excellence in academics, athletics, service, and leadership.

Warren joins Trinity University football's Caleb Bayer, who was named this season's SAA Man of the Year. Nominess must be a senior with no remaining eligibility, have been named to the All-SAA First Team, made the SAA Academic Honor Roll, and expected to be involved in their local community in a meaningful way.

Nominees we also asked to describe how their experiences as scholars, athletes, and leaders on their campuses and in their communities have influenced their lives and empowered them to have positive impacts.

"When I entered college, I believed success was the goal," Warren said. "The most important lesson I learned, however, was that growth rarely occurs during moments of success. Instead, it emerges through challenges that force us to rethink who we are, what we value, and how we serve others.

Pursuing dual degrees in mathematics and neuroscience taught me how to thrive under pressure. Additionally, in my pursuit of becoming a physician-scientist, I have conducted cancer, neuropharmacology, and mathematics research across UTHSC, UMMC, and Millsaps. These experiences strengthened my passion for scientific discovery, but they also taught me that research has little value if it never reaches the communities that need it most.

The communities I grew up in showed me the importance of improving access to healthcare. Limited access to specialists and delayed diagnoses has affected people I cared about. This commitment to health equity led me to help establish and maintain the first ACS Cares cohort in Jackson, where I assist patients and their families with cancer navigation at the UMMC Medical Mall. I have also worked with A Step Ahead in Memphis to expand access to reproductive health education in underserved communities. Working with patients and community members that are facing barriers to care transformed my understanding of service and reinforced my desire to connect scientific innovation with real-world impact.

My path to becoming physician-scientist hasn't been linear. I have been forced to balance ambition with sustainability. During my junior year, I took the MCAT nearly a year early while balancing my other ambitions. The experience led to burnout, self-doubt, and the most difficult academic and athletic season of my college career. It taught me resilience, humility, and the importance of seeking support from others. This strengthened my ability to lead on the court, in the classroom, and within my community.

Those lessons shaped how I approached leadership. As Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President, I organized school-wide study sessions and community engagement initiatives. As Honor Council Chair, I worked to uphold Millsaps' culture of integrity and accountability. As women's basketball captain, I helped teammates navigate the challenges of balancing athletics and academics while leading by example through consistent effort and discipline. As a teaching assistant in multiple STEM courses, I focused on helping students build confidence in demanding coursework. Whether advocating for student-athletes, strengthening institutional integrity, mentoring future healthcare professionals, or developing sustainable service initiatives, my goal became helping others navigate challenges I had once faced myself. These experiences culminated in recognitions including selection as an Omicron Delta Kappa National Leader of the Year, Rhodes Scholar Finalist, and Jostens Trophy Finalist. These honors reflect my commitment to scholarship, leadership, service, and athletics.

The woman who entered college sought success. The woman leaving college and entering medical school understands that success is most meaningful when it creates opportunities for others. That transformation has been the defining experience of my collegiate journey and will continue to guide me as I pursue a career dedicated to research, medicine, and service."

ELYSE WARREN'S ATHLETIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• 2025-26 SAA Woman of the Year
• 2026 WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches' All-America Honorable Mention
• 2025-26 SAA Sigma Alpha Alpha Honor Society Inductee
• 2025-26 Jostens Trophy Finalist
• D3hoops.com All-Region 6 First Team
• 2025-26 SAA Women's Basketball Defensive Athlete of the Year
• 2025-26 All-SAA First Team, U.S. Basketball Writers Association Division III National Player of the Week (Jan. 6)
• D3hoops.com Team of the Week (Jan. 5, 2026)
• 2023-24 & 2024-25 All-SAA Second Team
• 2022-23 All-SAA Honorable Mention
• Set conference single-game, season and career rebounding records with 33, 479 and 1,219 boards, respectively.
• Scored 1,236 points to become first 1000-1000 player in program history
• 2024 SAA WBB All-Tournament Team
• 2025-26 SAA Tournament Championship and NAA First Round
• 2024-25 SAA Regular Season Championship
• 2023-24 SAA Regular Season and Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament First Round
• 2nd in the nation in double-doubles and 3rd in total rebounds following 2025-26 campaign
• Carla D. Webb Award Winner, which is presented annually to the most outstanding Millsaps senior female varsity athlete throughout their collegiate career
• Voted Most Likely to Go Pro by fellow student-athletes

ELYSE WARREN'S LEADERSHIP AND RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC)
  • May 2023-Present
• President
  • April 2025–Present
• Academic Chair
  • December 2024–Present
• Women's Basketball Representative
  • May 2023–Present
• Honor Council, Millsaps College
  • May 2023-Present
• Head Chair
  • May 2025–Present
• Vice Chair
  • May 2024–May 2025
• Medical Readiness Initiative (MRI), Millsaps College
  • August 2025-Present
• Medical School Chair
• Pathways Program Peer, Millsaps College
  • August 2025–Present
  • Guide first-year students through career discovery though reflection and exploration
• Ford Teaching Fellowship, Millsaps College
  • August 2025–Present
  • Prepare materials for teaching and in-class quizzes under the mentorship of Dr. Wolfgang Kramer
• Organic Chemistry (Lecture & Lab) Teaching Assistant, Millsaps College
  • January 2025–Present
  • Provide support during lab procedures and troubleshooting synthetic experiments
• College Physics I & II Teaching Assistant, Millsaps College
  • August 2024–Present
  • Lead exam review sessions and offer after-hours tutoring
  • Assist with equipment setup and grading tasks to support course instruction
• General Chemistry Lab Teaching Assistant, Millsaps College
  • August 2023–Present
  • Prepare laboratory materials and ensured safety compliance
• Kinnaird Institute Research Experience, Millsaps College
  • July 2025
  • Worked to solve the sum-product problem for small sets under the guidance of Dr. Alex Rice
• Organic Chemistry Research Assistant, Millsaps College
  • June 2025–Present
  • Work to synthesize kinase inhibitors to help fight cancer's dysregulation of metabolic pathways under the mentorship of Dr. Wolfgang Kramer

ELYSE WARREN'S ACADEMIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Rhodes Scholarship Finalist
• Named the 2025-26 Gen. Russell E. Dougherty National Leader of the Year, ODK's highest undergraduate leadership honor
• Elected to the Millsaps Hall of Fame for the Class of 2026
• Senior GPA Award for Millsaps Athletics with highest cumulative GPA for graduating seniors (3.907 cumulative GPA)
• Tri Beta Honor Society
• Psi Chi Honor Society
• Phi Mu Epsilon
• 2023-24 & 2024-25 & 2025-26 CSC Academic All-District® Women's Basketball Team
• 4x SAA Academic Honor Roll,
• 5x with 4.0 semester
• Earned Millsaps highest academic scholarship
• Received multiple prestigious research awards
• Biochemistry Ford Fellow
• Member of the Nu Rho Psi, National Honor Society in Neuroscience since 2023, and was this past year's President
• Santiago Ramon y Cajal Research Award 2024-2025
  • Awarded for excellence in neuroscience research
• Patricia Walker Shaw Scholarship 2023–2024
  • Awarded for academic promise and civic engagement
• A Step Ahead Scholarship in 2022–2023 & 2023–2024
  • Recognized for commitment to women's reproductive health education and advocacy
• Featured in Promenade, a curated selection of exceptional first-year student writing 2023
• Joseph B. Price General Chemistry Award 2022–2023
  • Awarded for achieving the highest average in General Chemistry during freshman year
• Millsaps Richard and Selby McRae Award 2022–Present
  • Highest scholarship for academic excellence, leadership, and community involvement
• American Cancer Society CARES August 2024–Present
  • Helped establish 1st Mississippi Cohort
  • Provide community education on cancer prevention and survivorship and supported patients
• Crisis Counselor, Crisis Text Hotline July 2024–Present
  • Trained to support individuals in mental health crises via confidential, anonymous conversations
• A Step Ahead Foundation March 2022–Present
  • Promote access to long-acting reversible contraceptives through community outreach and educational events

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Founded in Jackson, Mississippi in 1890, Millsaps College is a national liberal arts college dedicated to academic excellence, open inquiry and free expression, the exploration of faith to inform vocation and the innovative shaping of the social, economic and cultural progress of our region. Consistently ranked as one of the best values in higher education, Millsaps has been praised by Colleges That Change Lives, The Princeton Review, Forbes Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The John Templeton Foundation, and The Fiske Guide to Colleges.