VanDerveer ties mark with victory No. 1,202
STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford women’s basketball players formed a postgame circle, and Kiki Iriafen offered her celebratory teammates a little perspective on their coach, Tara VanDerveer.
“Tara’s been winning,” Iriafen said, “since our parents were kids.”
Yes, pushing five decades. A head coach since her mid-20s, the 70-year-old VanDerveer tied the retired Mike Krzyzewski as the all-time leader for coaching wins in college basketball with her 1,202nd victory late Friday night. She guided the No. 8 Cardinal past Oregon 88-63 despite losing leading scorer Cameron Brink for the final three quarters with a leg injury.
“It’s like a dream come true. To have a dream and watch it play out,” VanDerveer said of her fortunate timing entering coaching after not having that as a player before Title IX.
“I planned to go to law school because there were no coaches. That was not a job for women. My timing was horrible for playing, but it was very good for coaching. I was a head coach when I was like 24 years old. I’m just really thankful that I get to have a job that it’s not a ‘JOB’ job. I love coming to the gym; it was just fun at practice today. Just to experience this is more than I ever could have dreamed of.”
Cardinal players hugged their smiling coach and lifted her up in celebration after the teams shook hands. Brink even took a turn, perhaps a positive sign regarding her left leg as she headed for an X-ray.
VanDerveer can take sole possession of the record Sunday, when she goes for victory No. 1,203 as Stanford (16-2, 5-1 Pac-12) hosts Oregon State (15-2, 4-2). A couple dozen former Stanford players are expected to be on hand for the potential milestone.
“The amount of people that come just shows the impact she’s had on the game, the impact she’s had at Stanford and on this program,” Iriafen said. “For us, we’re just soaking it in how honored we are to be a part of her historic moment, even though she won’t allow herself to celebrate it too big. We’ll celebrate for her.
“This is just an amazing experience being here and being coached under her. The opportunity to make history on Sunday is really exciting.”
VanDerveer has just one losing season, going 13-15 in her first campaign at Stanford in 1985-86, and has more wins than 355 of the 360 Division I NCAA programs. She was away from the Cardinal for a 29-3 season — she doesn’t get those victories — while coaching the 1996 U.S. Olympic team that captured a gold medal in the Atlanta Games.
Brink landed awkwardly and limped to the locker room with help at the 3:41 mark of the opening quarter. She returned to the bench just before the end of the period. Brink had made all three of her field-goal attempts for six points to go with two rebounds, an assist and a steal in six minutes.
Iriafen had 21 points on 10-for-17 shooting, 15 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots as the Cardinal bounced back from a 71-59 loss last Sunday at Colorado, which moved up two spots to No. 3 in this week’s AP Top 25. Talana Lepolo added 13 points and eight assists with just one turnover against Oregon.
VanDerveer is in her 38th season at Stanford and 45th as a college coach. She turned around the programs at Idaho and Ohio State before arriving in the Bay Area. VanDerveer has adapted based on her players’ strengths, cherishing the opportunity to learn something new from fellow coaches at every level.
And now she has matched Coach K’s win total, which he set while leading the team’s teams at Army for five seasons (1975-80) and Duke for 42 (1980-2022).
“I think any young coach out there, that’s who you should watch,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said of VanDerveer. “That’s how you should coach, and I’m really happy for them.
“I’m also happy for us that we weren’t the record-setting one. We’re just the tying one. But I’m happy for her. She deserves everything that she’s getting and has gotten.”
“The amount of people that come just shows the impact she’s had on the game, the impact she’s had at Stanford and on this program.” — STANFORD FORWARD KIKI IRIAFEN