After 38 seasons, 1,216 wins, 14 Final Fours and three national championships (1991, 1992, 2021), Tara VanDerveer is retiring.
Basketball is the greatest group project there is and I am so incredibly thankful for every person who has supported me and our teams throughout my coaching career….The joy for me was in the journey of each season, seeing a group of young women work hard for each other and form an unbreakable bond. Winning was a byproduct….I’ve loved the game of basketball since I was a little girl, and it has given me so much throughout my life. I hope I’ve been able to give at least a little bit back.
Needless to say, the winningest head coach in NCAA basketball history, a record she attained in January, has given much to the game. After beginning her coaching career at Idaho in 1978 and serving as head coach at Ohio State from 1980 to 1985, VanDerveer took over at Stanford, turning the program into a standard bearer of women’s college basketball excellence. She also led the 1996 US women’s national basketball team to gold at the Atlanta Olympics, establishing the foundation for Team USA’s decades of international dominance.
Kate Paye, who played at Stanford for VanDerveer and has been a member of her staff for 17 seasons,…
