Stanford’s VanDerveer poised to break Summitt’s win mark
STANFORD, CALIF. » Tara VanDerveer and Tennessee’s Pat Summitt planned home-and-home series whenever schedules allowed, two power programs in opposite regions of the country ready to test their teams. Ready to challenge themselves as coaches, too.
Their mutual respect always showed, and it shined. From the pregame hugs and quick chats to polite postgame handshakes that demonstrated the deep admiration they each felt for one another.
So, when VanDerveer tied the late Hall of Famer for most coaching wins in women’s basketball with 1,098 Sunday night, beating one of her former players guiding rival California, she quickly credited Summitt for helping her.
“We would talk, and I think that one of the things, I like the idea of competing against great coaches to get better,” VanDerveer said. “If I tied this record with her, she helped me do it, because of playing against her teams. From the beginning, we only played Tennessee because Jennifer Azzi came to Stanford and we promised Jennifer we would play there like one year — not 25 years.”
The 67-year-old VanDerveer is poised to pass Summitt’s mark Tuesday when top-ranked Stanford (4-0) plays at Pacific, and it is certain to be in VanDerveer under-the-radar fashion. No media were expected to be allowed inside the arena to capture the historic moment aside from the ESPN broadcast crew because of the pandemic.
“Tara has kind of become the Coach K of the women’s game,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said Monday, referring to Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski. “There’s just this army of players who she recruits to come through there and then she coaches them up and just year after year they win. It’s not easy to do that as a coach, your voice can get old. ...
“I’ve always loved her sort of understated presence. She’s understated but she’s clearly in charge. When you’re in the room with her you feel like, yeah, she’s the boss, but she doesn’t need to yell and scream. It’s more just poise and knowledge, and the players feel that, and then she keeps churning out these great teams year after year, so she’s pretty remarkable.”
VanDerveer has adapted her approach and style on numerous occasions, even relying on what has become her trusty red bullhorn so her players and coaches can hear given the COVID-19 spacing protocols on the bench and need to speak over the pipedin crowd noise.
In the summer of 2014, VanDerveer realized she needed to revamp her offense and go away from Stanford’s tried-and-true triangle with the departure of Pac-12 Player of the Year Chiney Ogwumike. VanDerveer called in then-Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni to help with a daunting process that had her “a little cranky.”
And consider what VanDerveer’s win total could be: She took a year away from Stanford to coach the 1996 Olympic team. The Americans won a gold medal in Atlanta, while associate head coach Amy Tucker guided Stanford.
“I am incredibly proud of Tara for this achievement. Her drive, consistency and passion are the foundations for success,” said Tucker, who also played for VanDerveer at Ohio State. “It is really amazing to see her success year after year!”
NCAA eyeing single tournament site
UConn coach Geno Auriemma wasn’t surprised that the NCAA women’s basketball
tournament will be played in one geographical area. It just makes the most sense.
The NCAA announced that San Antonio is the likely host site for the 64-team tournament in March. The move was made to help mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and matches that of the men’s tournament, which the NCAA said last month will also be played in a single area — most likely Indianapolis.
“If you’re in one place there’s one set of protocols for the entire state, that’s one positive to it,” said Auriemma, whose team has been to every
Final Four since 2008. “Trying to get 64 teams from all over the country to fly to all those places and deal with all the protocols involved everywhere, it made more sense I’m sure to bring in everyone to Texas.”
San Antonio was to be the site of the 2021 Final Four. The NCAA has begun talks with the city on hosting the whole thing and hopes to have plans finalized by the end of January. It is likely that the NCAA could play games as far away as Austin because of the need for hotels and venues.