Coach connects with players
Stanford seniors say Tara VanDerveer has special bond with Cardinal
Stanford senior Kiana Williams remembers how nervous she felt the first time coach Tara VanDerveer called to recruit her.
The 5-foot-8 point guard from San Antonio, Texas, said she paced the hallway while speaking to the Naismith Hall of Fame coach.
“Sit down,” her father Michael Williams said.
“I can’t sit down,” Kiana Williams said she told her dad. “I’m talking to Tara VanDerveer.”
Some seniors spoke Tuesday night about how much it has
meant to play for VanDerveer, who became the all-time winningest coach in women’s basketball after top-ranked Stanford routed the University of the Pacific 104- 61 in Stockton in an empty arena.
The victory gave VanDerveer a historic 1,099th victory in 42 seasons of coaching to pass the legendary Pat Summitt.
Afterward, VanDerveer, 67,
did what she has done after every milestone victory: the fourtime national coach of the year acknowledged everyone but herself for the achievement.
“Her gift is she is always able to adjust,” said senior Anna Wilson, the sister of Seattle quarter
back Russell Wilson. “She’s a player’s coach in the sense she wants to get the best out of her players.”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, few hugs were given after the record victory. Instead, VanDerveer gave high fives to every player with her eyes shining behind her ink-black facemask. The players surprised her with confetti in the locker room and party poppers that she described as “fireworks.” VanDerveer told the players the most important thing she could do was show them her love.
It might have been the coach’s night, but VanDerveer pivoted to a talented group of players who have a realistic chance of winning Stanford’s first national title since 1992.
Williams said the gesture was heartfelt.
“She doesn’t just care about us as basketball players but as people too,” Williams said. “I wouldn’t want to play for any other coach.”
Williams recalled hearing from VanDerveer in the summer during the Black Lives Matter protests over the police killings of African Americans.
“It meant a lot to me,” Williams said. “The coach was taking time out of her day to make sure I was OK mentally. It’s not about the Xs and Os.”
VanDer veer reca lled how opportunities in women’s basketball were limited when she played at Indiana and then started coaching.
The first job was with her sister’s high school team because after graduating college her father insisted his oldest child not sit around the house in Niagara Falls, New York, doing nothing.
VanDerveer was inf luenced by her parents who were educators in the Hudson River Valley and Western New York. She always has asked her players to think beyond the court.
“Young people come to Stanford to get an education first,” VanDerveer said Tuesday night. “They’re not coming to Stanford for basketball.”
Wilson, who was one of six players to score in double figures against UOP, verbally committed to Stanford as a sophomore in high school.
“I knew what I was going to get from the jump,” she said. “Tara has taught me to be the same whether it’s going your way or not.”
Although VanDerveer avoids drawing attention, she acknowledged the significance of the victory and what it meant to her players.
“They wanted this win for me,” she said. “I felt it from them the whole game, the whole bus ride up here.”
T he team presented VanDerveer with an extra-large hoodie with the name “T-Dawg” on the back. A dog lover, she said Williams gave her the nickname that has caught on. But Williams was not sure her coach would try on the jacket.
When VanDerveer put it on Williams said her coach exclaimed, “Yeah, this is swag.”
T he record, though, would not change VanDerveer’s life. Since COVID-19 has limited activities the coach has been sharing pool time with Stanford Olympians Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel.
VanDer veer said she swam before the historic game Tuesday, telling herself. “I hope we play well. I hope the record is set. And I’m going to be in the pool tomorrow and I’m going to be the same person.”
The Cardinal (5- 0) had to play the milestone game in Stockon because of Santa Clara County’s ban last month on contact sports in an effort to stop the COVID-19 surge.
T he coach said she has tried to stay healthy throughout the novel coronavirus pandemic by swimming, riding a Peloton and playing bridge on a computer with her mom, Rita, 93.
“T hen when I’m in the g ym, I’m excited,” VanDerveer said. “It’s not like a J- O-B job. It’s like FU-N, fun.”
So are all those victories.