Let us relish the moment
Geno, VanDerveer eras unlikely to ever be seen again
Outside her spartan existence of watching film and more film as coach at Stanford, Tara VanDerveer lives a life of simple joys.
She swims a lot at the outdoor Avery Aquatics
Center on campus, often with Katie Ledecky in the next lane, and plays bridge online with her mother for an hour each day. She spends summers waterskiing and sailing and attending lectures and festivals near her family home in Chataqua Lake, New York.
VanDerveer is unique. So is Geno Auriemma for his own personality traits and interests. So was Pat Summitt for her approach and pursuits.
These three basketball giants, different in who they are and where they’re from and where they’ve established themselves, have spent parts of six decades as the faces of their respective programs and a sport’s steady rise.
They now top a prestigious list, with VanDerveer last month and Auriemma this week passing Summitt in career victories. VanDerveer has 1,105 and Auriemma has 1,099 after UConn’s victory Tuesday over Butler, the latest occasion for Geno-PatPat-Geno conversations now joined by the Geno-Tara-TaraGeno theme.
“When you think of women’s basketball, Pat is Tennessee, Geno is Connecticut and I think with Stanford it’s me,” VanDerveer said. “My dad honestly told me [in 1985], ‘You’re crazy. You’ll be home in three months because you
can’t win at Stanford.’ I said, ‘Dad, we just have to get three or four of the best players from around the country.’ And we were able to do that.”
VanDerveer, who won national championships in her fifth and seventh seasons but has yet to add another, went on to call herself, Auriemma and Summitt “guardians of the game.” She also noted that we’re unlikely to again experience simultaneous runs of such icons.
There are wonderful coaches out there, as many as ever, from Dawn Staley to Kim Mulkey to Jeff Walz to Kelly Graves and beyond. But we should appreciate the era of Tara, Geno and Pat, what each has done separately, and together. VanDerveer became a head coach at age 25, Auriemma at 31, Summitt at just 22.
They continue to be — in practice or in legacy — the guardians.
“You probably couldn’t find three more different people growing in three more different environments,” Auriemma said. “To converge at that place is pretty improbable. It’s a function, I think, of the longevity that it takes, the number of times you have to be willing to get up in the morning and go do it again, the number of offseasons where you might have thought, ‘Do I really want to do this again?’
“And then you go do it again. ... Here we are after all these years, and it is highly improbable.”
VanDerveer, 67, began at Idaho in 1978, moved to Ohio State two years later and was hired at Stanford in 1985, the same year Auriemma came to UConn. She was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, raised just north of Albany, and most of her professional success has come in the Bay Area. Her overall record is 1,105-254.
Auriemma, 66, was born in Italy, raised in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and has set a new basketball standard in Storrs, with 11 national championships. His record is 1,099-142.
Summitt, who retired in 2012 and died in 2016 at age 64, was the trailblazer. She was born and raised in Tennessee and she stayed there, the first to draw real interest in women’s basketball from a general sports audience, winning eight national championships. She finished 1,098-208.
Now, Auriemma and VanDerveer continue on neck and neck. Both have been recognized for milestones in the midst of a bizarre season and trying times, running programs through a pandemic.
“I am not confident that this is, in fact, what we should be doing,” VanDerveer said. “Is it in the best interest of our student-athletes, our communities? I would beg to differ. But if Connecticut is playing and Baylor is playing, then Stanford wants to play. I think it’s incredibly stressful for our student-athletes. …
“At some point, I just think, ‘Wow, is this really worth it?’ But our team wants to play, and if there are games we don’t want to be sitting home watching someone else play. But it’s very challenging, especially challenging for us.”
With pandemic restrictions in Santa Clara County, Stanford has been pushed off campus and into long road trips for games. The top-ranked Cardinal suffered their first loss Sunday at Colorado.
All three coaches won Olympic gold as coach of the U.S. National team. All have quirks. There was always Geno’s wit and needling against Pat’s steely stare and seriousness at the heart of one of the best rivalries in sports. All the while, VanDerveer has been thriving out west with her own understated approach.
“I like going to practice,” VanDerveer said. “You’re kind of like a chef. You’ve got these ingredients and you’re trying to cook something really special. Sometimes it feels like the cake is still in the oven, but it’s really fun when something special comes out. And it’s not just winning.
“It’s ... the great memories you get being around young people. I forget I’m 60. I’m sure Geno does, and Pat did too.”
Stanford won national championships in 1990 and 1992. In between, in 1991, Auriemma and UConn reached the Final Four for the first time.
UConn leads the series 11-7, with five victories over Stanford at the Final Four, including the 2010 championship game. Stanford defeated the Huskies in the 2008 Final Four and ended UConn winning streaks of 91 (in 2010) and 47 (2014).
“What Geno has done is nothing less than phenomenal,” VanDerveer said. “I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve had teams that have won a national championship.
“Is there a spot up on the wall [for another]? Yes. But what’s most important to me is I do a good job for the players. It’s not about me.”
Auriemma has often said he’ll retire at whatever point he grows tired of recruiting or any other complication. He said Tuesday that coaching in this age of advanced communication, especially during the pandemic, consumes 90% of his life. He’s looking forward to enjoying the post-basketball chapter, but it’s hard to imagine that chapter beginning any time before, say, 2025.
“There might be days when you’re like, ‘I’m just going to throw in this towel, but you’ve got these great players and you think, ‘This is fun,’ ” VanDerveer said. “God willing, I’ll have a great retirement. I love to do so many other things besides basketball.
“I’d like to be a better bridge player, but I don’t have time. I love to travel. I know there are great restaurants out there. I know there are fun places to go and fun things to do.
“It will hit me in the same way it will hit Geno — one day I’ll say that’s enough. I hope that we’re spoken of not because of [victories], necessarily, but because we are good people and good coaches and our players are better because of playing for us.”