Tara VanDerveer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Tara VanDerveer

VanDerveer cutting down the nets after the Elite 8 game in the 2011 NCAA Division I tournament
Biographical details
Born	(1953-06-26) June 26, 1953 (age 71) Melrose, Massachusetts, U.S.
Playing career
Basketball
1972–1975	Indiana
Position(s)	Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1976–1978	Ohio State (assistant)
1978–1980	Idaho
1980–1985	Ohio State
1986–2024	Stanford
National team
1995–1996	USA
Head coaching record
Overall	1,216–271 (.818)
Tournaments	0–1 (AIAW Division II) 104–36 (NCAA Division I) 5–1 (Big Ten) 27–2 (Pac-10) 29–6 (Pac-12)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3x NCAA Division I Tournament (1990, 1992, 2021) 13x NCAA Regional—Final Four (1990–1992, 1995, 1997, 2008–2012, 2014, 2017, 2021) 27x Pac-12 Conference regular season (1989–1993, 1995–1998, 2001–2014, 2021–2024) 15x Pac-12 Conference tournament championships (2003–05, 2007–13, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021–2022) 4x Big Ten Regular Season (1982–1985)
Awards
5× National Coach of the Year (1988–1990, 2011, 2020) 18× Pac-10/12 Coach of the Year (1989, 1990, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011-2014, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2024) 5× WBCA District/Region Coach of the Year (1988–1990, 2007, 2009) John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching Award (2014) 5× Northern California Women's Intercollegiate Coach of the Year (1988–1990, 1992, 1993) 2× Big Ten Coach of the Year (1984, 1985)
Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2011 (profile)
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Medal record Women's Basketball Head Coach for  United States Olympic Games Gold 1996 Atlanta Team Competition Head Coach for  United States FIBA World Championship for Women Bronze 1994 Sydney Team Competition Head Coach for  United States Goodwill Games Gold 1994 St. Petersburg Team Competition Head Coach for  United States World University Games Gold 1991 Sheffield Team Competition

Tara Ann VanDerveer (born June 26, 1953) is a retired American basketball coach. She was the head women's basketball coach at Stanford University from 1985 until she retired in 2024. Coach VanDerveer led the Stanford Cardinal to three NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championships. They won in 1990, 1992, and 2021. She also coached the U.S. women's national team to a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games.

VanDerveer was named National Coach of the Year multiple times. She also won the Pac-12 Coach of the Year award 18 times. In 2002, she was added to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

Tara VanDerveer is one of the top coaches in college basketball history. She is one of only nine NCAA Women's Basketball coaches to win over 900 games. She is also one of ten NCAA Division I coaches, men's or women's, to win 1,000 games. On December 15, 2020, she broke the record for most wins in women's college basketball history. She passed Pat Summitt with her 1,099th win. On January 21, 2024, she became the winningest head coach in all of college basketball history. She passed Mike Krzyzewski with her 1,203rd win. VanDerveer retired with 1,216 career wins.

Early Life and Basketball Beginnings

Tara VanDerveer was born on June 26, 1953, in Melrose, Massachusetts. She grew up in West Hill, near Schenectady, New York. Her parents named her "Tara" after a plantation in the book Gone with the Wind.

When she was young, there were no sports teams for girls at her first high school. So, she played basketball and other sports in local leagues and pickup games. She often played with boys. To make sure she got picked for games, she bought the best basketball she could afford. This way, if the boys wanted to use her ball, they had to choose her to play.

Her family moved to Niagara Falls during her sophomore year of high school. She started playing basketball again after transferring to Buffalo Seminary. This was an all-girls school. She later earned a spot in the Buffalo Seminary's Athletic Hall of Fame.

College Basketball Journey

VanDerveer really wanted to play basketball in college. She first went to Albany because her father had studied there. The team wasn't very competitive. Even though she was a guard, she played center and led the team in many areas as a freshman.

She wanted a bigger challenge. So, she went to the AIAW National Championship. This was like the NCAA tournament before it existed. She watched many teams and decided to transfer to Indiana. She played there for three years and made the Dean's List every year. In 1973, she helped Indiana reach the Final Four of the AIAW championship.

At Indiana, the men's basketball team was coached by the famous Hall of Fame coach Bobby Knight. The women's coach, Bea Gorton, used a similar style of play and practice. Tara VanDerveer took Knight's coaching classes and watched his team practice often. She used what she learned from him in her own coaching career.

Starting Her Coaching Career

After college, VanDerveer took a year off. She planned to go to law school. But when she ran out of money, she went home. Her parents encouraged her to help coach her younger sister Marie's basketball team. Even though the girls on the team weren't always committed, Tara found she loved coaching.

This experience inspired her. She applied to many colleges for an unpaid assistant coaching job. Only Ohio State responded. She was hired as an assistant coach for the main team and head coach for the junior varsity (JV) team.

In her first year, she led the JV team to an 8–0 season. This success caught the eye of Marianne Stanley at Old Dominion. Stanley offered her an assistant coaching job. But VanDerveer wanted to finish her master's degree. So, she took a paid position at Ohio State, even though it paid much less.

Coaching at Idaho

After two years at Ohio State, VanDerveer became the head coach at the University of Idaho in Moscow. This was a Division II school at the time. Before she arrived, the Vandals had only one winning season in four years.

In her first year, the team improved to 17–8. The next season, they went 25–6. This earned them a spot in the Division II AIAW tournament. These first 42 wins are counted in her total career wins.

Returning to Ohio State

VanDerveer returned to Ohio State as head coach for the 1980–81 season. Her time there included a record-breaking game against Iowa in February 1985. The game was held at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It had 22,157 fans, which was the largest crowd ever for a women's basketball game at that time. Ohio State won the game 56–47.

Coaching at Stanford University

Stanford Cardinal team with the 1990 National Championship Trophy

By 1985, VanDerveer had made Ohio State a top-ranked team. They were in the Top 20 in 1984 and reached number 7 in 1985. Their success in 1985 earned them a high seed in the 1985 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. They reached the Elite Eight but lost to the national champions, Old Dominion.

In 1985, Stanford was not a strong team. They had won only 9 games and lost 19 the year before. Only about 300 fans came to their games. Despite this, Andy Geiger convinced VanDerveer to become Stanford's head coach. Her friends told her it was a bad idea. They thought Stanford was too "brainy" to be good at sports. VanDerveer said her dad even told her she was "crazy to take this job."

VanDerveer's first year at Stanford was tough. The team finished with a losing record of 13–15. They improved slightly the next year to 14–14. By her third year, VanDerveer was coaching players she had recruited. She had taught them her coaching style. Stanford's record jumped to 27–5. This earned them their first NCAA tournament spot since 1982. VanDerveer's team reached the Sweet Sixteen in 1988. After that, her team was invited to the NCAA tournament every year she coached.

Another big moment came the next year when Stanford won the Pac-10 regular season. This was the first of many conference championships for them. They reached the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament but lost to Louisiana Tech.

In the 1990 tournament, Stanford made it to the Final Four. They played against Virginia. Stanford beat Virginia 75–66 to reach the national championship game. The championship game was against Auburn. Auburn had been runner-up in the last two tournaments. Auburn started with a lead, but Stanford's point guard Jennifer Azzi helped them tie the game by halftime. Azzi then led a strong second-half run. She won the Most Outstanding Player award, and Stanford won its first national championship under VanDerveer.

By 2019, Stanford had won two NCAA championships and made 12 trips to the Final Four. VanDerveer's coaching record at Stanford was 900–192. This made her the fifth Division I coach to get 900 wins at one school.

On December 14, 2020, VanDerveer tied the record for coaching wins. She then broke Pat Summitt's record for most wins in women's college basketball on December 16, 2020, when Stanford beat Pacific.

In April 2021, VanDerveer coached Stanford to their third NCAA title. They beat South Carolina 66–65 in the Final Four. Then they won 54–53 against their Pac-12 rival Arizona Wildcats in the championship game. This was their first title in 29 years.

On April 9, 2024, VanDerveer announced she would retire from coaching. Her time at Stanford lasted 38 seasons. After retiring, she signed an agreement with the Washington Speakers Bureau. She now shares her strategies for building strong teams and helping people grow.

Coaching the National Team

The USA Basketball women's national team had a lot of success in the 1980s. They won the 1984 Olympics, the 1986 World Championship, and the 1988 Olympics. However, by the early 1990s, the team's performance started to dip. They finished third at the 1992 Olympics and again at the 1994 World Championship.

USA Basketball decided to try a new plan for the 1996 Olympics. Instead of forming a team a few weeks before the event, they would create a full-time national team. This team would train together for a whole year. Tara VanDerveer was chosen as the head coach. She took a year off from Stanford to do this.

VanDerveer had coached USA Basketball teams before. In 1991, she led the team at the World University Games to a gold medal in Sheffield, England. She also coached the national team at the 1994 World Championships, where they won a bronze medal. Two months later, she coached the USA Goodwill Games team to a gold medal in Saint Petersburg. Because of her experience, she was the clear choice for the Olympic team coach. She was hesitant at first because it meant leaving Stanford. But she decided it was important to represent her country.

For the 1996 Olympics, USA Basketball chose the players, not the coach. VanDerveer was worried because the team seemed smaller than other strong teams like China.

Even though Team USA won all eight games at the 1996 Olympics, VanDerveer wasn't always sure they would win. They had a perfect 52–0 record before the Olympics. But after a close game against Ukraine, VanDerveer worried they weren't playing well enough for a gold medal.

The first Olympic game was against Cuba. The USA team started slowly, but then played better and won 101–84. The next game was against Ukraine, and the USA won comfortably 98–65. Their third game was against Zaire at the Georgia Dome. Over 31,000 fans watched, setting a new record for a women's basketball game. The USA won easily, 107–47.

The next game was against Australia, a strong team. The game was close, but the USA pulled ahead to win 96–79. The USA team then faced Japan. Japan had no players over six feet tall. The USA used their height advantage to win by 15 points.

After winning all their group games, VanDerveer's team played Australia again in the semi-final, winning 93–71. Two days later, they faced Brazil in the championship game. They won 111–87, earning the USA their third Olympic gold medal in women's basketball.

VanDerveer's 1996 Olympic team is considered one of the best ever. They had a perfect 60–0 record throughout the year, ending with the gold medal in Atlanta.

Coaching Tree: Her Influence on Other Coaches

Many of Tara VanDerveer's players and assistant coaches have gone on to become head coaches themselves. This shows how much she influenced them.

Awards and Honors

Tara VanDerveer has received many awards and honors throughout her career:

• 1984 – Big Ten Coach of the Year
• 1985 – Big Ten Coach of the Year
• Buffalo Seminary's Athletic Hall of Fame
• 1988 – National Coach of the Year
• 1989 – Russell Athletic/WBCA National Coach of the Year
• 1990 – National Coach of the Year
• 1990 – US Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Coach of the Year award
• 1995 – Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award by the United States Sports Academy
• 1995 – Indiana University Hall of Fame
• 1998 – Named to the Women's Sports Foundation International Women's Sports Hall of Fame (Coach category)
• 1999 – Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame
• 2002 – Elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Knoxville, Tennessee
• 2010 – Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame
• 2011 – WBCA Division I Women's Basketball Coach of the Year
• 2011 – Named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
• 2011 – Naismith College Coach of the Year
• 2011 – AP College Basketball Coach of the Year
• 2018 – Carol Eckman Award
• 2024 – Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement

Personal Life

Tara VanDerveer never married and does not have children. She loves to play the piano. Her sister, Heidi VanDerveer, also coaches basketball. Heidi coached for the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm. She is now the head coach at UC San Diego.

During the offseason, VanDerveer enjoys spending time at her cabin on a private lake in Minnesota. She loves to waterski there.

See also

In Spanish: Tara VanDerveer para niños

• List of college women's basketball career coaching wins leaders

Images for kids

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  Tara VanDerveer cutting down the nets after a big win.

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  The Stanford Cardinal team celebrating their 1990 National Championship.