tara

The all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball, Tara VanDerveer cemented herself as one of the top coaches in the history of sport, both collegiately and internationally, and is a member of both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2011) and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (2002). She announced her retirement on April 9, 2024.
 
An ambassador for both Stanford University and the sport of college basketball, VanDerveer enjoyed an unprecedented level of success through an energetic and positive approach to the game. A five-time national coach of the year (1988, 1989, 1990, 2011, 2021) and 18-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, VanDerveer, who prior to coming to Stanford served as head coach for a combined seven seasons at Idaho (1978-80) and Ohio State (1980-85), accumulated an impressive 1,216-271 (.818) record in her 45 years as a collegiate head coach and a 1,064-220 (.829) record over 38 seasons at Stanford.

VanDerveer won her 1,000th career game on Feb. 3, 2017, passed Pat Summitt (1,098) to become the winningest coach in women's college basketball history on Dec. 15, 2020, and surpassed Mike Krzyzewski (1,202) to become the winningest coach in NCAA basketball history on Jan. 21, 2024. 

In 2020-21, VanDerveer led the Cardinal back atop the collegiate mountaintop, all while maneuvering a global pandemic. Stanford finished the year 31-2, won both the Pac-12 regular season and tournament championships, earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and claimed the national championship for the first time since 1992.
 
VanDerveer led her Stanford teams to three NCAA Championships (1990, 1992, 2021), one of four coaches in the history of the sport to win three titles. She advanced the Cardinal to 14 NCAA Final Four appearances, 26 Pac-12 regular-season titles, 15 Pac-12 Tournament crowns and 35 trips to the NCAA Tournament. She also guided Idaho to one AIAW Tournament appearance and Ohio State to a pair of NCAA Tournaments while twice being named Big Ten Coach of the Year.
 
Her teams won 20 or more games 39 times (an NCAA college basketball record), including each of her final 23 seasons, and collected at least 30 victories 18 times. VanDerveer built Stanford into a national power almost immediately upon arrival and maintained an unparalleled level of success for over three and a half decades. On Feb. 26, 2016 the Cardinal won its 1,000th game in program history, becoming the seventh Division I institution to reach the milestone, and did so in fewer games than all but two other schools. Upon her retirement, VanDerveer accounted for 1,064 of Stanford’s 1,240 total victories since its first varsity season in 1975 (85.8 percent).
 
Perhaps one of VanDerveer’s most notable attributes was her ability to connect with student-athletes and adapt to the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. Considered one of the nation’s premier recruiters, VanDerveer and her staff routinely brought top classes to The Farm. The Stanford staff brought in the likes of Jennifer Azzi and Kate Starbird, both of whom won women’s basketball’s highest individual honor - the James Naismith National Player of the Year Award (Azzi 1990; Starbird 1997) - as well as Candice Wiggins, who in 2008 joined Azzi (1990) as Stanford’s second recipient of the State Farm/WBCA Wade Trophy Player of the Year Award.
 
First-team All-Americans that flourished under VanDerveer’s guidance include Cameron Brink (2022-24), Haley Jones (2022), Kiana Williams (2021), Alanna Smith (2019), Chiney Ogwumike (2012, 2013, 2014), Nneka Ogwumike (2010, 2011, 2012), Jeanette Pohlen (2011), Jayne Appel (2009, 2010), Wiggins (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008), the program’s only four-time All-American to date, Nicole Powell (2002, 2003, 2004), Kristin Folkl (1998), Starbird (1996, 1997), Val Whiting (1992, 1993), Sonja Henning (1991) and Azzi (1989, 1990).
 
Overall, VanDerveer  guided her players to two Wade Trophy Player of the Year honors, two Naismith Player of the Year honors, a WBCA Defensive Player of the Year and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, 38 first-team All-America honors (WBCA and Associated Press), 20 Pac-12 Player of the Year awards, 88 first team All-Pac-12 selections and nearly 40 appointments to USA Basketball teams.
 
Many of those players went on to have success at the professional level. During VanDerveer's tenure, Stanford had 34 players play in a regular-season WNBA game. Her program also boasted 15 first-round draft picks out of its 31 all-time selections, including 2016 WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike, and had seven players win a total of eight WNBA titles.
 
In 1995-96 VanDerveer served as head coach of the USA Basketball National Team, leading the team to a 52-0 exhibition record and then to the Olympic gold medal with a perfect 8-0 run at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
 
VanDerveer is a 1975 graduate of Indiana University, where she was a dean's list scholar for three years and a sociology major. While at Indiana, VanDerveer held one of the starting guard positions for three years on the women's basketball team. For her efforts at Indiana and her accomplishments after leaving the Hoosiers, VanDerveer was inducted into the Indiana University Hall of Fame in 1995.
 
An avid piano player in her spare time, VanDerveer was born June 26, 1953. A Boston native who grew up in upstate New York, she is also a published author. Her book Shooting From The Outside, which chronicled her 1996 Olympic and National Team experience, was released in September 1997.


VanDerveer’s Year-by-Year Record

Year School Record Conference Postseason
2023-24 Stanford 30-6 15-3/1st Pac-12 NCAA Sweet 16
2022-23 Stanford 29-6 15-3/t1st Pac-12 NCAA Second Round
2021-22 Stanford 32-4 16-0/1st Pac-12 NCAA Final Four
2020-21 Stanford 31-2 19-2/1st Pac-12 NCAA Champions
2019-20 Stanford 27-6 14-4/t2nd Pac-12 COVID-19 NCAA
Tournament Cancellation
2018-19 Stanford 31-5 15-3/2nd Pac-12 NCAA Elite Eight
2017-18 Stanford 24-11 14-3/2nd Pac-12 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2016-17 Stanford 32-6 15-3/t2nd Pac-12 NCAA Final Four
2015-16 Stanford 27-8 14-4/t3rd Pac-12 NCAA Elite Eight
2014-15 Stanford 26-10 13-5/t3rd Pac-12 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2013-14 Stanford 33-4 17-1/1st Pac-12 NCAA Final Four
2012-13 Stanford 33-3 17-1/t1st Pac-12 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2011-12 Stanford 35-2 18-0/1st Pac-12 NCAA Final Four
2010-11 Stanford 33-3 18-0/1st Pac-10 NCAA Final Four
2009-10 Stanford 36-2 18-0/1st Pac-10 NCAA Runner-Up
2008-09 Stanford 33-5 17-1/1st Pac-10 NCAA Final Four
2007-08 Stanford 35-4 16-2/1st Pac-10 NCAA Runner-Up
2006-07 Stanford 29-5 17-1/1st Pac-10 NCAA Second Round
2005-06 Stanford 26-8 15-3/1st Pac-10 NCAA Elite Eight
2004-05 Stanford 32-3 17-1/1st Pac-10 NCAA Elite Eight
2003-04 Stanford 27-7 14-4/t1st Pac-10 NCAA Elite Eight
2002-03 Stanford 27-5 15-3/1st Pac-10 NCAA Second Round
2001-02 Stanford 32-3 18-0/1st Pac-10 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2000-01 Stanford 19-11 12-6/t1st Pac-10 NCAA Second Round
1999-00 Stanford 21-9 13-5/t2nd Pac-10 NCAA Second Round
1998-99 Stanford 18-12 14-4/3rd Pac-10 NCAA First Round
1997-98 Stanford 21-6 17-1/1st Pac-10 NCAA First Round
1996-97 Stanford 34-2 18-0/1st Pac-10 NCAA Final Four
1995-96 USA Head Coach -- -- --
1994-95 Stanford 30-3 17-1/1st Pac-10 NCAA Final Four
1993-94 Stanford 25-6 15-3/2nd Pac-10 NCAA Elite Eight
1992-93 Stanford 26-6 15-3/1st Pac-10 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1991-92 Stanford 30-3 15-3/1st Pac-10 NCAA Champions
1990-91 Stanford 26-6 16-2/1st Pac-10 NCAA Final Four
1989-90 Stanford 32-1 17-1/1st Pac-10 NCAA Champions
1988-89 Stanford 28-3 18-0/1st Pac-10 NCAA Elite Eight
1987-88 Stanford 27-5 14-4/3rd Pac-10 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1986-87 Stanford 14-14 8-10/t6th Pac-10 --
1985-86 Stanford 13-15 1-7/5th Pac-West --
1984-85 Ohio State 28-3 18-0/1st Big Ten NCAA Elite Eight
1983-84 Ohio State 22-7 17-1/1st Big Ten NCAA First Round
1982-83 Ohio State 23-5 15-3/t1st Big Ten --
1981-82 Ohio State 20-7 -- NCAA First Round
1980-81 Ohio State 17-15 -- --
1979-80 Idaho 25-6 10-2 Northwest Empire AIAW Championships
1978-79 Idaho 17-8 -- --
  45 seasons  1,216-271 (.818) 576-90 (.865) » Pac-12 only  

Accolades and Honors

Year Honor
2024 Pac-12 Coach of the Year
2022 Pac-12 Coach of the Year
2021 Naismith Coach of the Year
  USBWA National Coach of the Year
  Pac-12 Coach of the Year
2018 WBCA Carol Eckman Integrity in Coaching Award
  Pac-12 Coach of the Year
2014 Pac-12 Coach of the Year
2013 WBCA Region 8 Coach of the Year
  Pac-12 Coach of the Year
2012 WBCA Region 8 Coach of the Year
  Pac-12 Coach of the Year
2011 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
  Naismith Coach of the Year
  WBCA Coach of the Year
  Associated Press Coach of the Year (co)
  WBCA Region 8 Coach of the Year
  Pac-10 Coach of the Year
2010 WBCA Region 8 Coach of the Year
2009 WBCA Region 8 Coach of the Year
  Pac-10 Coach of the Year
2008 Pac-10 Coach of the Year
2007 WBCA Region 8 Coach of the Year
2006 Pac-10 Coach of the Year
2005 Pac-10 Coach of the Year
2003 Pac-10 Coach of the Year
2002 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
  Pac-10 Coach of the Year
1997 Pac-10 Coach of the Year
1996 USA Basketball Coach of the Year
1995 Pac-10 Coach of the Year
1993 Northern California Women's Intercollegiate Coach of the Year
1992 Northern California Women's Intercollegiate Coach of the Year
1990 Naismith Coach of the Year
  U.S. Basketball Writers Association Coach of the Year
  WBCA Region 8 Coach of the Year
  Pac-10 Coach of the Year
  Northern California Women's Intercollegiate Coach of the Year
1989 WBCA Coach of the Year
  Converse Coach of the Year
  WBCA Region 8 Coach of the Year
  Pac-10 Coach of the Year
  Northern California Women's Intercollegiate Coach of the Year
1988 Women's Basketball News Service Coach of the Year
  WBCA Region 8 Coach of the Year
  Northern California Women's Intercollegiate Coach of the Year
1985 Big Ten Coach of the Year
1984 Big Ten Coach of the Year