STANFORD — After 45 seasons, an NCAA-record 1,216 victories and three national championships, Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer has called it a career.
The legendary coach announced her retirement on Tuesday night in a news release by the school’s athletic department.
“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, 70, said. “I’ve been spoiled to coach the best and brightest at one of the world’s foremost institutions for nearly four decades.
“Coupled with my time at Ohio State and Idaho, and as head coach of the United States National Team, it has been an unforgettable ride.”
There is no question who will replace VanDerveer. In the same release, the school said negotiations are underway with Kate Paye to become VanDerveer’s successor. Paye played under VanDerveer from 1991-95 and has been a member of her staff for the past 17 seasons.
Paye would become the program’s fifth head coach beginning with the 2024-25 season, leading the Cardinal’s transition from the Pac-12 to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Last fall, VanDerveer called the Pac-12’s demise “heartbreaking.”
“I’m in a bad dream,” she said. “This is a nightmare.”
VanDerveer’s last day at Stanford will be on May 8, the 39th anniversary of her hire.
Before arriving on The Farm in 1985, VanDerveer was the head coach at Idaho from 1978-1980 and Ohio State from 1980-1985.
She became the all-time winningest coach this past season, passing retired Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski on Jan. 21 with her 1,203rd victory, a 65-56 win over Oregon State at Maples Pavilion.
VanDerveer then led the Cardinal to a Pacific-12 Conference regular-season championship and to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
“Tara’s name is synonymous with the sport and women’s basketball would not be what it is today without her pioneering work,” Stanford Athletic Director Bernard Muir said. “She has been devoted to this campus for 40 years and a servant to all the student-athletes who have come through her program.
“Tara built one of the sport’s iconic program’s almost immediately upon her arrival at Stanford, and then maintained that standard for nearly four decades. An energetic and positive teacher, a Hall of Famer, a trusted friend and mentor, Tara’s impact is simply unmatched, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to characterize her as one of the most influential people to ever be associated with this university. We will look forward to finding the appropriate ways to honor her deep impact and legacy here at Stanford.”
Under VanDerveer, Stanford won national championships in 1990 and 1992. She then spent the next three decades seeking title No. 3. The Cardinal broke the drought amid the pandemic in 2021 when it defeated Pac-12 rival Arizona 54-53 for the national title in San Antonio.
Stanford spent 87 nights on the road that season and played only six of its 33 games at Maples Pavilion.
Among VanDerveer’s numerous accomplishments, her Stanford teams had just one losing season: her first went 13-15 in 1985-86. Only five others finished a season with double-digit losses.
VanDerveer finished her career with a 1,216-271 record. Now that she is retiring, her time as college basketball’s all-time winningest coach is likely to end next season.
UConn’s Geno Auriemma, 70, now ranks second on the all-time wins list. His record is 1,213-162.
“She’s the standard by which the rest of us in the conference and around the nation are judged,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said at Pac-12 media day last fall. “She has done it so well, for so long, set an amazingly high bar for all of us as coaches to coach our teams in a way that is making a life impact.”
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