The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Stanford’s VanDerveer retires after setting all-time wins mark
By Janie McCauley
STANFORD, CALIF. — Tara VanDerveer lent her time and energy to a young Dawn Staley behind the scenes years before the South Carolina coach started winning championships or delivering an improbable undefeated season. The Hall of Fame Stanford coach did the same for her Pac-12 rivals.
For Cori Close. For Lindsay Gottlieb. For Charmin Smith. For Charli Turner Thorne. And for Kate Paye, who will become VanDerveer’s successor now that the 70-yearold women’s basketball pioneer is retiring.
Nearly everybody has a story of how VanDerveer went out of her way to do something kind along the way during her decorated, four-decade career. She cherished her role in helping the sport any way she could. And now, she is leaving on a high note.
The winningest basketball coach in NCAA history announced her retirement Tuesday night after 38 seasons leading the Stanford women’s team and 45 years overall.
VanDerveer surpassed Mike Krzyzewski for the wins record in January. She departs with 1,216 victories at Idaho, Ohio State and Stanford.
“Basketball is the greatest group project there is and I am so incredibly thankful for every person who has supported me and our teams throughout my coaching career,” VanDerveer said in a statement. “I’ve been spoiled to coach the best and brightest at one of the world’s foremost institutions for nearly four decades.”
And as has been the plan for years, top Cardinal assistant Paye is set to take over the program, and Stanford said in a statement that negotiations with Paye are underway. Paye played for VanDerveer from 1991-95 and has coached on her staff for 17 years.
In 2013, Gottlieb was coaching Southern California,
which played in the same NCAA Tournament regional as Stanford. When VanDerveer’s top-seeded Cardinal were eliminated by Georgia and Cal had to face the Bulldogs next, VanDerveer reached out to congratulate Gottlieb and offer to help with the game plan. The second-seeded Golden Bears went on to reach the program’s only Final Four.
After beating Staley and South Carolina 70-32 on Nov. 26, 2010, VanDerveer made her way to the Gamecocks’ locker room in Maples Pavilion for a postgame pep talk.
“For me being on the West Coast I had a front-row seat to all those things,” Gottlieb said by phone Tuesday
night, fondly remembering VanDerveer reaching out after Cal beat LSU. “The first call after that win was from Tara and she asked if we wanted the Georgia scout — after her season had just ended. Those are things you don’t forget. It shapes the way you treat opponents, it shapes the way you treat other coaches.”
Stanford, which lost to N.C. State in a regional semifinal this year after last season’s second-round defeat at home to Mississippi, will play in the Atlantic Coast Conference next season after the Pac-12 imploded — changes VanDerveer called “sad.”
“From the time I wrote Tara a letter as a senior in college until coaching against her 25 years later, she has always been the model for game-planning, for excellence and for growing our game,” Gottlieb said, “and I think our prevailing feeling should be gratitude for everything she’s done for all of us.”