Stanford’s depth is what sets this team apart from others
Hall of Fame coach takes deep roster to the Final Four in a season like no other
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer has taken 10 teams to the Final Four in the 29 years since her last national championship, but none of them have been like the team that plays South Carolina this afternoon in a national semifinal game in San Antonio.
The differences — this Cardinal team’s lack of a single dominant star player foremost among them — are the reason No. 1 overall seed Stanford (292) could win it all this weekend.
Stanford has survived March Madness so far without the kind of bona fide star that VanDerveer has coached
on almost all of her other Final Four teams.
But 10 heads may be better than one as a deep roster has made the Cardinal perhaps the country’s most difficult team to shut down. Stanford, earning its first overall top seeding since 1996, enters the national semifinals riding an 18-game win streak.
The Cardinal has been led in scoring by a different player in each of its four NCAA Tournament games so far.
The other Final Four schools — Arizona, Connecticut and South Carolina — each have a singular star they have ridden to success during a tournament that has been held entirely in San Antonio because of the coronavirus pandemic. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
VanDerveer, 67, said Thursday it is difficult to think three decades have passed since her last title in 1992.
“There’s a lot of things that happen outside the realm of my imagination, including this whole season,” she said.
In the early 1990s, VanDerveer’s title teams defeated the University of Virginia, led by guard Dawn Staley, now South Carolina’s coach.
“I do want Tara to get another national championship, but just like in 1992, not at my expense,” Staley said Thursday.
Stanford has reached the doorstep to its third national championship after a season unlike any other. The Cardinal spent 63 days on the road because of Santa Clara County restrictions implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19.
While other schools were permitted to play in their home arenas, the Stanford players lived in hotels. The Cardinal returned to its campus gymnasium — but without fans — in early February when county public health officers relaxed the rules.
“Life is throwing us curveballs and we just keep swinging and doing whatever it takes,” VanDerveer said. “Being out of our county, being out of our gym, being out of our locker room, not having fans. We’ve come to appreciate the little things, but maybe the real things in life.”
VanDerveer, who passed the legendary Pat Summitt this season to become the all-time winningest women’s coach, appreciates the way her players have responded to the challenges.
“I’ve never seen Tara want something as badly as she does for this team,” said associate head coach Kate Paye, who was a freshman walk-on when Stanford won the title in 1992.
VanDerveer said the players built cohesion during the offseason by regularly meeting via video chats to get to know each other better. Instead of forming cliques, they developed an appreciation for everyone.
“We see each other pretty much every hour of every day,” junior guard Lexie Hull said. “It’s not a bad thing to live with each other.”
The Cardinal is led by third-team All-American Kiana Williams, who scores a team-high 14.5 points a game. But three other Stanford players also average more than 10 points a game.
Paye said Williams, a San Antonio native, has made a difference.
“Tara always likens the team to the orchestra,” Paye said. “She might be the conductor but Kiana is first chair. She is the concertmaster.”
The Cardinal might lack a signature standout, but the team has celebrity superfans. Senior guard Anna Wilson is the sister of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who has been a boisterous fixture in San Antonio these past weeks.
Freshman forward Cameron Brink of Portland, Oregon, said she picked Stanford because Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, a family friend, lives nearby. Curry’s parents are Brink’s godparents. And her parents are Curry’s godparents. The connection started when Brink’s mom roomed with Curry’s mom at Virginia Tech.
VanDerveer came close to lifting another championship trophy with eight Final Four appearances in the past 14 years because of top talent. In 2008, it was AllAmerican Candice Wiggins, then the East Bay’s Jayne Appel followed by Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike.
But Tennessee, Connecticut and Baylor countered with college players of the year such as Candace Parker, Maya Moore, Britteny Griner and Breanna Stewart.
Those Cardinal teams always fell short.
Three decades ago, VanDerveer said she did not know what the future might hold when Stanford reached its first Final Four in 1990. The coach recalled thinking, “I don’t know if we’re ever coming back so let’s just win it here.”
Thirty-five years into her Stanford tenure, VanDerveer has an overall career record of 1,123-255, including stops at Idaho and Ohio State.
Paye said she has learned how fleeting success can be as part of the Stanford coaching staff since 2008.
When the Cardinal won the regional final Tuesday night against Louisville, VanDerveer cut down one of the nets as part of basketball tradition. But it was late and the coach wondered if she should bother cutting down the second net.
“Hell yes, we’re cutting down that other net,” Paye recalled telling her boss. “You never know if you’ll get another opportunity like this.”