STANFORD, Calif.: Tara VanDerveer gave her time and power to a younger Dawn Staley behind the scenes years earlier than the South Carolina coach began profitable championships or delivering an unbelievable undefeated season.
The Hall of Fame Stanford coach did the identical for her Pac-12 rivals.
For Cori Close. For Lindsay Gottlieb. For Charmin Smith. For Charli Turner Thorne. And for Kate Paye, who will grow to be VanDerveer’s successor now that the 70-year-old girls’s basketball pioneer is retiring.
Nearly everyone has a narrative of how VanDerveer went out of her technique to do one thing sort alongside the best way throughout her adorned, four-decade profession. She cherished her position in serving to the game any method she may. And now, she is leaving on a excessive observe.
The winningest basketball coach in NCAA historical past introduced her retirement Tuesday evening after 38 seasons main the Stanford girls’s group and 45 years general. A information convention was scheduled for Wednesday.
VanDerveer surpassed Mike Krzyzewski for the wins report in January. She departs with 1,216 victories at Idaho, Ohio State and Stanford.
“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,” VanDerveer stated in a press release. “I’ve been spoiled to coach the best and brightest at one of the world’s foremost institutions for nearly four decades.”
And as has been the plan for years, prime Cardinal assistant Paye is ready to take over this system; Stanford stated in a press release that negotiations with Paye are underway. Paye performed for VanDerveer from 1991-95 and has coached on her workers for 17 years.
In 2013, Gottlieb was teaching California, which performed in the identical NCAA Tournament regional as Stanford. When VanDerveer’s top-seeded Cardinal have been eradicated by Georgia and Cal needed to face the Bulldogs subsequent, VanDerveer reached out to congratulate Gottlieb and provide to assist with the sport plan.
The second-seeded Golden Bears went on to succeed in this system’s solely Final Four.
After beating Staley and South Carolina 70-32 on Nov. 26, 2010, VanDerveer made her technique to the Gamecocks’ locker room in Maples Pavilion for a postgame pep speak.
“For me being on the West Coast I had a front-row seat to all those things,” Gottlieb stated by telephone Tuesday evening, fondly remembering VanDerveer reaching out after Cal beat LSU. “The first call after that win was from Tara and she asked if we wanted the Georgia scout — after her season had just ended. Those are things you don’t forget. It shapes the way you treat opponents, it shapes the way you treat other coaches.”
Stanford, which misplaced to North Carolina State in a regional semifinal this yr after final season’s second-round defeat at dwelling to Mississippi, will play within the Atlantic Coast Conference subsequent season after the Pac-12 imploded — modifications that VanDerveer known as “sad.”
“From the time I wrote Tara a letter as a senior in college until coaching against her 25 years later, she has always been the model for game-planning, for excellence and for growing our game,” Gottlieb stated, “and I think our prevailing feeling should be gratitude for everything she’s done for all of us.”
Turner Thorne, a former Stanford participant who later coached Arizona State and is now retired, reached out to VanDerveer instantly after listening to Tuesday’s information.
“She has done it all so just really happy for her to enjoy life after coaching!” Turner Thorne stated in a textual content message to The Associated Press. “When you know you know.”
UConn coach Geno Auriemma known as it a “monumental day in women’s basketball, and in basketball in general.”
“When you’ve coached for this extended period of time and you’ve accomplished what Tara’s accomplished, it has an incredible effect on the basketball community,” Auriemma stated. “The number of wins, the national championships, the Hall of Fame. She’s had an incredible career and she’s left a great impact on the sport. It’s been exciting to compete against her all these years.”
Coaches who have been mentored by VanDerveer stated her legacy might be long-lasting.
“Tara’s influence is both deep and wide. I went to her very first camp at Stanford as a camper,” UCLA coach Close stated in a textual content to the AP. “I competed against her and worked her camps as a player. And I have now been competing against her and learning from her for many years as a coach. My coaching has been affected on so many levels by Tara’s example and direct mentorship at many crossroads. Congrats on an amazing career Tara. Our game, the Pac-12 Conference, and my coaching is better because of you. Enjoy retirement. You sure have earned it.”
VanDerveer’s final day is scheduled for May 8 — the thirty ninth anniversary of her hiring. She plans to proceed working for the athletic division in an advisory position.
Her Stanford groups received NCAA titles in 1990, ’92 and 2021 and reached the Final Four 14 instances.
Rosalyn Gold-Onwude performed on the 2008 Final Four squad and is thrilled concerning the strides her sport has made since.
“Whatever helped her decide, she deserves it all,” Gold-Onwude stated in a textual content to the AP. “She steps away knowing her work was part of making all this possible, and she deserves all the rest, she’s earned it! I’m happy for her. Thankful for her.”
VanDerveer took a yr away from Stanford to information the undefeated U.S. girls’s Olympic group to a gold medal on the 1996 Atlanta Games.
“Coupled with my time at Ohio State and Idaho, and as head coach of the United States National Team, it has been an unforgettable ride,” she stated. “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.”
For many in girls’s basketball, the reply is a convincing sure.
“She’s a legend. The game will miss her,” Smith, the present California coach and former Stanford participant and assistant, stated in a textual content to the AP. “I’m grateful for everything Tara has done to contribute to the coach I am today.”
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This story has been corrected to indicate that Lindsay Gottlieb was teaching California, not Southern California, in 2013.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket/ and protection: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
