VanDerveer becomes winningest women’s coach
STOCKTON » Tara VanDerveer made history, and then took a moment to tell her Stanford players what they mean to her.
“The most important thing I can do as a coach is love you,” VanDerveer said. “I love the game of basketball and I want to help you be the best you can be. You’re the people that I care about. Thank you.”
Typical Tara, wanting to share the joy on a night when the spotlight shined brightly on her — and her alone.
VanDerveer became the winningest women’s college basketball coach Tuesday night, passing the late Pat Summitt with her 1,099th victory as No. 1 Stanford romped to a 104-61 victory over Pacific.
Dressed casually in all black, VanDerveer received the game ball after the final buzzer. Her dancing players chanted “Tara! Tara!” and gave her a new oversized pullover reading “T-DAWG” to celebrate the latest milestone for the Hall of Fame coach in her 35th season on The Farm and 42nd overall as a college head coach. The wearable blanket was forward Francesca Belibi’s idea.
“It’s really sweet,” VanDerveer said.
The 67-year-old VanDerveer improved her career record to 1,099-253. The road to this historic night began with her first head coaching job at the University of Idaho from 1978-80, and then moved to Ohio State (1980-85) and Stanford, where she is 947-202. Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma is right behind at 1,093 wins.
“This is special because of the magnitude of that many wins,” VanDerveer said. “You never go into coaching, I never thought, ‘Well, I’m going to try to win 1,000 games’ or anything like that. This is special, currently having the No. 1 team, being undefeated, playing in a pandemic, I will never forget this, for sure.”
College Sports
Supreme Court agrees to hear NCAA athlete compensation case » The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to review a court decision that the NCAA has said blurred “the line between student-athletes and professionals”
by removing caps on education-related money certain football and basketball players can receive.
The case will be argued in 2021 with a decision expected before the end of June.
The high court’s decision to hear the case comes after a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in May. The panel upheld a lower court ruling barring the NCAA from capping education-related compensation and benefits for student-athletes in Division I football and basketball programs. Division I conferences can still independently set their own rules.
Donald Remy, the NCAA’s chief legal officer, said in a statement that the NCAA is pleased the court will review the case. “The NCAA and its members continue to believe that college campuses should be able to improve the student-athlete experience without facing never-ending litigation regarding these changes,” Remy said.
In August, Justice Elena Kagan had denied the NCAA’s request to put lower court rulings in favor of the student-athletes on hold at least temporarily while the NCAA formally petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the case.
The NCAA had said the ruling “effectively created a pay-for-play system for all studentathletes, allowing them to be paid both ‘unlimited’ amounts for participating in ‘internships’” and an additional $5,600 or more each year they remain eligible to play their sport.
The NCAA is in the process of changing its rules to permit athletes to be compensated for the use of their names, images and likenesses. That should open opportunities for athletes to be paid for endorsement and sponsorship deals, for appearances and for promoting products or events on social media accounts.
Lacrosse
Pro leagues PLL, MLL are merging » The Premier Lacrosse League and Major League Lacrosse are merging and will formally exist as the Premier Lacrosse League.
As part of the merger, the PLL announced Wednesday it will immediately expand to include the Boston Cannons, previously of MLL, as the league’s eighth team, under the new name Cannons Lacrosse Club. The team’s roster will be selected through an expansion draft in 2021. The PLL will retain the rights to all the former MLL teams for future expansion considerations.
Paul Rabil, who co-founded the PLL with his brother, Mike, in 2019, called the merger “a massive step forward for professional lacrosse.”
“Merging the two organizations and removing some of the challenges that athletes, sponsors and fans faced will undoubtedly advance the game forward,” Paul Rabil said in a statement. “This one’s particularly nostalgic for me and a number of PLL players, given that we began our careers and played in championship games with MLL prior to the PLL’s launch. Today and forever we share in that history and continue to build the future of pro lacrosse together.”
The two leagues have created a management team that will oversee the transition, including: front office, team and player orientation; the 2021 season schedule, which will include former MLL team markets; and a long-term plan to develop youth lacrosse players in communities where MLL has been located.