STANFORD PREPPED IN A NOMADIC YEAR
Cardinal felt ready for tourney after being battle-tested by lengthy schedule on road
STANFORD >> When Stanford arrived for practice at a high school gym one afternoon in January and the lights were off, Kiana Williams couldn’t help but wonder if her team had now seen just about everything during this strangest of seasons.
High winds in a town outside Santa Cruz, California, one of the temporary home bases for the Cardinal earlier this year, had caused a power outage. So Stanford adjusted — as it had done for nearly two months already at that stage — changed up the practice plan and held the entire adjusted workout with minimal light.
No problem, the Cardinal could just laugh it off.
These women were beyond used to such challenges by that point. In late November, Santa Clara County established COVID-19 health and safety protocols prohibiting practices and competitions. Those restrictions remained in effect for nine weeks — so the Cardinal hit the road.
“I’m like, ‘How bad can things get, how much worse can things get?’” Williams recalled of that tough stretch, which included the team’s lone two losses. “We had just lost, we were practicing in a high school gym, the floor is
slippery, the lights are off, I’m like, ‘What else is going to be thrown at us?’ We got through all that and here we are.”
Where they are is the Elite Eight, with the Cardinal as confident as ever after living as nomads for two months.
When the ban on sports came down, Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer initially relocated her team to Las Vegas and scrambled to schedule new games after others were postponed or canceled altogether. She had one key connection that came in handy for
games and practice space: former player and recent Stanford assistant Lindy La Rocque had just become head coach at UNLV.
In all, Stanford spent nearly 10 weeks away from campus and covered thousands of miles to make this season happen. The overall top-seeded Cardinal (28-2) played their season opener Nov. 25 at home in Maples Pavilion, had the next two scheduled games on campus canceled, then didn’t play on their home floor again until hosting Colorado on Feb. 5.
That meant hotel living and learning, Zoom overloads and makeshift study tables for one. Typical team meals were rare, too.
“I think this whole year
has been about that exact word, about ‘appreciate,’ appreciate every single little thing because it was taken away from us, and then the gym was taken away from us, games at home were taken away from us,” VanDerveer said.
If any team in this year’s tournament field felt prepared for an extended stay in San Antonio, Stanford sure did.
“We’re better prepared and we know what to expect because we did it for 10 weeks,” Williams said. “No other team had to go through that.”
One thought VanDerveer regularly reminds her team is, “Every disappointment is a blessing.” It’s one of her “Tara-isms” as her players
call the coach’s signature catch phrases.
“I just learned how mentally tough everyone is. It was exhausting and draining at times just to go straight from practice back to the hotel then have to watch your Zoom class in the hotel in isolation,” Williams said. “... It takes a special individual to get through that.”
There were days nobody felt like practicing. Not to mention finding the motivation to study on top if it.
Even months before their road adventure, players worked out on Stanford’s outdoor tennis courts before they were allowed to safely return to Maples Pavilion during the pandemic.