Coach VanDerveer’s record hunt hits bump
With new health order, her quest for all-time wins is pushed back
Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer will have to wait at least a little longer to take over the NCAA Division I wins record from legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt.
VanDerveer has 1,095 career wins under her belt in 42 seasons with the Cardinal, Ohio State and Idaho. At the helm of the No. 2 ranked team in the country, VanDerveer was set up for a chance to break Summitt’s 1,098win record on Dec. 11 against UC Davis. VanDerveer is 63 games shy of Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 1,158 NCAA Division 1 basketball record.
But t he t imel i ne for VanDerveer’s record-breaking win has been pushed back thanks to a new coronavirus mitigation order from Santa Clara County health officials that bans all contact sports and practices for three weeks.
VanDerveer has downplayed previous milestones. But she said Sunday playing games is not important during the global pandemic.
“I love to be in the gym but the health of our community is No. 1,” VanDerveer said. “I just think this is really hard for everybody to deal with.”
VanDerveer, 67, is perhaps more concerned about not being able to swim on campus.
“I just hope they don’t close the pool. I’ve been sw imming with K atie Ledecky and Simone Manuel,” she said of the Olympic swim stars who train at Stanford.
VanDerveer said the Cardinal players are living in a bubble in campus dormitories. They eat all meals in their rooms and get tested eight or nine times per week.
“We’re doing the right thing to try to play,” she said. “We’ll be playing when it is safe. But the most important thing is the health and safety of our team and community. We’re really thankful to be healthy.”
The Cardinal’s scheduled game against San Diego at Maples Pavilion for Monday was canceled, delaying VanDerveer’s shot at the record for at least one more game. Two home matchups this week against Pac-12 foes Washington (Thursday) and Washington State (Saturday) could be moved, postponed or canceled, too. Stanford is scrambling to reroute its season after the order
amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. The mandate was announced Saturday, took effect early Monday morning and will stretch through Dec. 20. If cases continue ticking upward, health officials could choose to extend the order.
VanDerveer may become women’s basketball’s winningest coach on the road, or in an unfamiliar environment if the Cardinal chooses
to move its operations outside the county to continue the season.
• The basketball cancellations didn’t stop with the Stanford women. San Jose State had to cancel today’s game with USF.
• Today’s San Jose StatePepperdine men’s basketball game was canceled.