STANFORD, Calif. — Tara VanDerveer lent her time and power to a younger Daybreak Staley behind the scenes years earlier than the South Carolina coach began profitable championships or delivering an inconceivable undefeated season.
The Corridor of Fame Stanford coach did the identical for her Pac-12 rivals.
For Cori Shut. 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 ladies’s basketball pioneer is retiring.
Practically everyone has a narrative of how VanDerveer went out of her approach to do one thing form alongside the way in which throughout her embellished, four-decade profession. She cherished her position in serving to the game any manner she may. And now, she is leaving on a excessive be aware.
The winningest basketball coach in NCAA historical past introduced her retirement Tuesday night time after 38 seasons main the Stanford ladies’s group and 45 years total.
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 best group challenge there’s and I’m so extremely grateful for each one who has supported me and our groups all through my teaching profession,” VanDerveer mentioned in a press release. “I’ve been spoiled to teach the most effective and brightest at one of many world’s foremost establishments for almost 4 a long time.”
And as has been the plan for years, prime Cardinal assistant Paye is about to take over this system, and Stanford mentioned in a press release that negotiations with Paye are underway. Paye performed for VanDerveer from 1991-95 and has coached on her employees for 17 years.
In 2013, Gottlieb was teaching Southern California, which performed in the identical NCAA Match regional as Stanford. When VanDerveer’s top-seeded Cardinal had been eradicated by Georgia and Cal needed to face the Bulldogs subsequent, VanDerveer reached out to congratulate Gottlieb and supply to assist with the sport plan.
The second-seeded Golden Bears went on to succeed in this system’s solely Last 4.
After beating Staley and South Carolina 70-32 on Nov. 26, 2010, VanDerveer made her approach 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 these issues,” Gottlieb mentioned by telephone Tuesday night time, fondly remembering VanDerveer reaching out after Cal beat LSU. “The primary name after that win was from Tara and she or he requested if we wished the Georgia scout — after her season had simply ended. These are stuff you don’t overlook. It shapes the way in which you deal with opponents, it shapes the way in which you deal with different coaches.”
Stanford, which misplaced to N.C. State in a regional semifinal this 12 months after final season’s second-round defeat at house to Mississippi, will play within the Atlantic Coast Convention subsequent season after the Pac-12 imploded — adjustments that VanDerveer known as “unhappy.”
“From the time I wrote Tara a letter as a senior in school till teaching in opposition to her 25 years later she has all the time been the mannequin for game-planning, for excellence and for rising our recreation,” Gottlieb mentioned, “and I feel our prevailing feeling needs to be gratitude for every part she’s accomplished 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 accomplished all of it so simply actually completely satisfied for her to get pleasure from life after teaching!” Turner Thorne mentioned in a textual content message to The Related Press. “When you already know you already know.”
Coaches who had been mentored by VanDerveer mentioned her legacy might be long-lasting.
“Tara’s affect is each deep and large. I went to her very first camp at Stanford as a camper,” UCLA coach Shut mentioned in a textual content to the AP. “I competed in opposition to her and labored her camps as a participant. And I’ve now been competing in opposition to her and studying from her for a few years as a coach. My teaching has been affected on so many ranges by Tara’s instance and direct mentorship at many crossroads. Congrats on an incredible profession Tara. Our recreation, the Pac-12 Convention, and my teaching is healthier due to you. Take pleasure in retirement. You positive have earned it.”
VanDerveer’s final day is scheduled for Might 8 — the thirty ninth anniversary of her hiring. She plans to proceed working for the athletic division in an advisory position.
Her Stanford groups gained NCAA titles in 1990, ’92 and 2021 and reached the Last 4 14 occasions.
Rosalyn Gold-Onwude performed on the 2008 Last 4 squad and is thrilled concerning the strides her sport has made since.
“No matter helped her determine, she deserves all of it,” Gold-Onwude mentioned in a textual content to the AP. “She steps away figuring out her work was a part of making all this doable, and she or he deserves all the remainder, she’s earned it! I’m completely satisfied for her. Grateful for her.”
VanDerveer took a 12 months away from Stanford to information the undefeated U.S. ladies’s Olympic group to a gold medal on the 1996 Atlanta Video games.
“Coupled with my time at Ohio State and Idaho, and as head coach of the USA Nationwide Staff, it has been an unforgettable trip,” she mentioned. “The enjoyment for me was within the journey of every season, seeing a gaggle of younger ladies work laborious for one another and type an unbreakable bond. Profitable was a byproduct. I’ve beloved the sport of basketball since I used to be slightly woman, and it has given me a lot all through my life. I hope I’ve been capable of give not less than slightly bit again.”
For a lot of in ladies’s basketball, the reply is a powerful sure.
“She’s a legend. The sport will miss her,” Smith, the present California coach and former Stanford participant and assistant, texted the AP. “I’m grateful for every part Tara has accomplished to contribute to the coach I’m at this time.”
