Following their first round loss in the Pac-12 tournament to UCLA, I decided to ask Oregon State men’s basketball head coach Wayne Tinkle his thoughts on Stanford women’s basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer breaking the all-time record for most wins in NCAA history. It's the final question he was asked.
VIDEO: Oregon State Men’s Basketball Postgame Press Conference | Pac-12 Tournament
You might be wondering why I asked him. For those that don’t know, Tinkle’s daughter Joslyn Tinkle played under VanDerveer at Stanford from 2009-2013. Tinkle helped Stanford reach three straight Final Fours from 2010-12, reaching the national title game in 2010. As a senior, Tinkle had her best statistical season, averaging 11.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, guiding the Cardinal to the Sweet Sixteen. For her career, she averaged 7.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
After a brief WNBA and pro career, Tinkle is now part of the VanDerveer coaching tree as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Montana. Tinkle is in her third season with the Grizzlies and her first as recruiting coordinator. The Grizzlies had a strong season this year, going 22-9 overall and 13-5 in the Big Sky.
While her dad obviously has played a major role in her desire to be a coach, VanDerveer seems to have been a major source of inspiration as well. When I asked Wayne his thoughts on VanDerveer breaking the record, he made it clear that she had a huge impact on his daughter’s decision to enter the profession and that he is incredibly happy to see VanDerveer have such an historic achievement.
“So fired up about that. Thanks for asking,” Tinkle said in response to my question. “My daughter loved her experience at Stanford. Got out of sales and marketing and get into coaching because it's in her blood and because of the inspiration she got from Tara and the rest of their staff.
“I wrote her a note after she broke the record. We're very close with her. I hope she holds that forever. I'll just say that. And what she's done, not just for the women's game, not just college basketball on both sides, I'm talking college athletics. She's an incredible woman and incredible humanitarian, and we all know she's Tara. She's one of the best ever.”
I thought it was really cool that Tinkle had the response that he did. It was clear that VanDerveer had a huge impact on his daughter and that he thinks the absolute world of her as a both a coach and as a person.
On top of that, Tinkle’s response was just another reminder of the impact that VanDerveer has had on all of college athletics. She’s not just an all-time great women’s basketball coach. She’s not just an all-time great basketball coach. She’s an all-time great person and an all-time great coach. Regardless of what sport you are talking about college or pro. Her reach is incredibly vast in terms of the number of lives she has touched and the ways in which she has impacted the sporting world. Hearing her spoken of so reverently at the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament is a small reminder of that.
It'll be fun to see what the future lies in store for Tara as she continues to coach Stanford women’s basketball and also what the future holds for Joslyn as she’s just getting started in her own coaching career.
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