On Tuesday night, Stanford women’s basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer announced her retirement in a press release put out by Stanford Athletics. VanDerveer's final day will officially be May 8th in commemoration of the 39th anniversary of her hiring.
Via Stanford Athletics: Tara VanDerveer Announces Retirement After 38 Seasons at Stanford
VanDerveer coached at Stanford for 38 seasons and has the most wins of any head basketball coach in NCAA history with 1,216 wins. During her time as the head coach at Stanford, VanDerveer guided the Cardinal to three national championships, 13 Final Fours, 15 Pac-12/Pac-10 conference tournament championships, and 27 Pac-12/Pac-10 regular season titles. She also has an Olympic gold medal as the head coach of the 1996 United States Women’s Basketball team. She coached many All-Americans and leaves behind an amazing legacy. VanDerveer is in both the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Basketball Hall of Fame. There’s really no other box for her to check off in terms of accomplishment.
"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 said in the release. "I've been spoiled to coach the best and brightest at one of the world's foremost institutions for nearly four decades. 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. 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."
VanDerveer will remain working with Stanford and the athletics department in an advisory role, so she’ll still be around. However, it will not be the same at Stanford to not have her on the sidelines at Maples Pavilion.
As far as who will replace VanDerveer as head coach, the release stated that negotiations are underway for associate head coach Kate Paye to become VanDerveer’s successor and the fifth head coach in program history. Paye played at Stanford under VanDerveer from 1991-95 and has been on VanDerveer’s coaching staff since 2007 as an assistant coach. In 2016 she was elevated to the role of associate head coach and ever since has been viewed as the most likely person to take over for VanDerveer once she retired.
I’ll have more thoughts on Paye once that all gets finalized, but for now, I just want close by saying it was a lot of fun getting to know Tara and have the privilege of covering her. I’ll always get to say I covered a legend. Not many people get to say that. She touched so many lives and truly embodies what it means to be a great coach. I wish more people had the chance to get to know her.
Stanford will have a press conference on Wednesday at 1:00 PM PT that will be open to the media. I’ll make sure to provide more thoughts and coverage afterwards.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook & X (Twitter): @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & X (Twitter): @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
