It would be impossible to tell the story of college basketball over the past four decades without Tara Vanderveer. The Stanford icon, USA Basketball coach and overall standard-bearer for West Coast basketball has been an integral figure in the development of women’s basketball since Title IX. With two more wins, VanDerveer would surpass former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski as the winningest coach on either men’s or women’s college campuses.
deeper
A lonely summer supports a coaching icon
It’s expected she may break the record this weekend, and we’ll be publishing stories about her esteemed career this week. Here’s a look back at some of Vandeveer’s monumental victories:
1. Win first place
Dec. 1, 1978: Idaho 70, Northern Montana 68 (overtime)
Before victory number 1,201, there was victory number 1. In his first game as Idaho State head coach, Vanderveer faced Northern Montana College (now known as the University of Northern Montana). This is the program’s fifth season — the Vandals aren’t even in the league yet — and they’ve hired a 25-year-old who spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Ohio State to lead them .
Idaho had one possession left, but the Vandals fouled out and went into overtime, where they narrowly beat the Polar Bears by two points. As VanDerveer told the Stanford Daily in 2020, “We were up three points before we went into overtime with 10 seconds left or something like that. I said, ‘Okay, look, we have This game’s up, just don’t foul.’ We went out and the girl hit the ball and we fouled her and I said, ‘This is going to be tough. “I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, coaching is not easy.'”
Tara Vanderveer –
Women’s college basketball coaches of the year
1978-80 Idaho women’s basketball head coach
3 NCAA Tournaments
4 NCAA Final Four appearances
16 NCAA Tournament appearancesTara is the 50th 50th honoree this week as we celebrate our 50th anniversary #Title9 pic.twitter.com/GeeQ8oLS7a
— Idaho Vandals (@Idaho_Vandals) March 8, 2023
2. Big crowd for Iowa State victory
February 3, 1985: Ohio State 56, Iowa 47
After two seasons at Idaho State, including a 25-6 record the following year, Vanderveer returned to Columbus as head coach. She led the Buckeyes to their first NCAA tournament in 1982 and returned to the Big Dance in 1984, when they finished in the AP Top 25 for the first time during her tenure.
En route to its fourth straight Big Ten title, Ohio State faced Iowa State (then coached by C. Vivian Stringer) and the game was coming to a close. Decades later, the two teams played before a crowd of 22,157 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, a precursor to record-breaking crowds in the state. That erased the NCAA women’s basketball game attendance record of 10,622 set two years ago. Team officials initially listed attendance at 18,500, reportedly to avoid trouble with fire crews since the arena’s capacity was 15,450; fans even had to stand in the aisles during the game.
3. Sign a game-changer
1986: Stanford signs Jennifer Azzi
VanDerveer returns to the West after five seasons with the Buckeyes to take charge of a Stanford team that went 9-19 last season. Her first order of business was to recruit point guard Jennifer Azzi from Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Cardinal’s performance was so bad that VanDerveer told Sports Illustrated that she didn’t let Azzi watch any practice or game tape during her recruitment, but Stanford’s academic pedigree helped convince Azzi to follow She came to Pacific Coast and became the show’s first real star.
T » B » T #gostanford pic.twitter.com/ZolRKZn5kl
— StanfordWBB 🤓🏀 (@StanfordWBB) March 17, 2016
In 1988, Azzi helped the Cardinals reach the NCAA tournament as a sophomore and began a series of appearances that continues to this day. She was the Pac-10 Player of the Year as a junior when Stanford reached the Elite Eight and the National Player of the Year in 1990 when the Cardinals won their first national championship. Aceh remains the program’s all-time leading three-point shooter, second in assists and third in steals. Great names born in Palo Alto include Sonja Henning, Val Whiting, Kate Starbird, Candice Wiggins , Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike, while Cameron Brink starts with Azzi. She was Vanderveer’s biggest off-field victory.
4. Reach the top
April 4, 1990: Stanford 88, Auburn 80
Vanderveer won her first national championship at Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Stadium, 20 minutes from where Azi played high school basketball. The Cardinals were dominant throughout the game, winning five games by an average of 15 points. The championship game was more back-and-forth as they led by 11 points initially but fell behind by 11 points late in the first half. Katy Steding had a stellar shooting performance, hitting six 3-pointers to beat Auburn, giving the Tigers their third straight loss in the championship game.
In his 12th season as head coach, VanDerveer reached his peak and built Stanford into a national powerhouse, becoming the sixth team to win the NCAA championship. Oddly enough, the Cardinals have never been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll this season, but that’s coming soon. Even though Azzie is graduating, Henning and Whiting are still carrying the torch.
5. Become an idol
April 5, 1992: Stanford 78, Western Kentucky 62
A championship made VanDerveer famous. Both titles made her an icon. In the more than 30 years since that game, only four other programs have won multiple championships (UConn, Notre Dame, Baylor and South Carolina), and those teams’ coaches have become legends in their own right.
The 1992 season was the Cardinals’ third consecutive trip to the Final Four, but they had to replace three starters from the previous season. Even so, they dominated Western Kentucky in the finals with a 30-3 record, led by freshman Rachel Hemmer’s 18 points and 15 rebounds. Their toughest matchup came in the Final Four, when they defeated Dawn Staley and Virginia 66-65.
6. Capture Tennessee
Dec. 15, 1996: Stanford 82, Tennessee 65
VanDerveer coached Team USA during a break during the 1995-1996 season in preparation for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and the program continued to thrive during her absence. The combination of Marianne Stanley and Amy Tucker led Stanford to an undefeated Pac-10 record and another trip to the Final Four. Still, Vandeveer’s return marked another milestone.
The Lady Vols won the national championship last season (eventually becoming the first of a three-peat) and have won a total of four championships over the past decade. Led by Pat Summitt, they are the gold standard in the sport, and Stanford has yet to beat them at home at Thompson-Boling Stadium, including two years ago in Knoxville. Beat them by 36 points. Not this time. The Cardinals entered the tournament as the No. 1 team in the country and defeated No. 5 Tennessee. Starbird became the team’s top scorer with 26 points, beating out Tamika Catchings, who scored 24 points on 11-of-28 shooting. Both teams reached the Final Four that year, but Stanford lost in the semifinals and then faced a possible rematch in the title game.
It was a brief peak for the Cardinal, who didn’t win at Tennessee again until 2012 despite playing there every other year.
VanDerveer found the secret to consistency during the 2008 season. (Matt Marriott/NCAA Photo via Getty Images)
7. End drought
March 31, 2008: Stanford 98, Maryland 87
VanDerveer and Stanford enter this tournament after a 10-season Final Four drought. The Cardinals won or tied for the PAC-10 title in eight of those years, but they didn’t experience the NCAA tournament success they’d become accustomed to. The drought finally ended in 2008 when Candace Wiggins’ team broke through against Maryland. Wiggins scored 41 points in the win, which advanced to the national semifinals as a senior after two losses in the Elite Eight. It’s a return to form for VanDerveer, as Stanford will reach the Final Four in each of the next four seasons.
8. University of Connecticut winning streak
Dec. 30, 2010: Stanford 71, Connecticut 59
Connecticut entered Maple Hall having won 90 consecutive games, including two national championships. Stanford University completely ended the longest winning streak in NCAA history at the time. Point guard Janet Pollan had 31 points and six assists as the Cardinal avenged their 2010 national championship defeat. They finally ended UConn’s winning streak and handed the Huskies their most recent loss in the 2008 Final Four.
9. T-Dawg wins again
December 16, 2020: Stanford University 104, University of the Pacific 61
VanDerveer became the winningest coach in women’s college basketball history, surpassing Summitt with her 1,099th victory, all but 176 of which came at Stanford. The pandemic meant no fans were in attendance to celebrate her milestone, but the players marked the occasion by presenting Vanderveer with a swimsuit that read “T-Dawg” after the final buzzer.Cameron Brink, a freshman on the roster, told Competitor Cardinal has some “fun” things planned for the upcoming record.
VanDerveer hoisted the trophy after defeating Arizona State for another national championship. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)
10. Achieve elite status
April 4, 2021: Stanford 54, Arizona 53
More than three decades after winning her first national title, Vanderveer won her third, joining a roster that included only Samit, Geno Auriemma and Kim Mulkey. This game has extra significance because another PAC-12 team (Arizona State) is playing in the championship game. After years of shouldering the burden of the conference, the Cardinals have some West Coast company for the final weekend and final game of the season.
(Top photo of Tara VanDerveer: Jack Dempsey/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
