Kate Paye was hired as Stanford's Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women's Basketball on April 16, 2024.
The 50-year-old Stanford alumna has been part of two of the Cardinal's three national championships – as a player on the 1992 team and an associate head coach for the 2021 squad. One of the most respected assistant coaches in college basketball and a two-time WBCA Assistant Coach of the Year, she spent 17 years on Tara VanDerveer’s staff and was promoted to associate head coach in 2016.
Since Paye’s return to Stanford in 2007-08, the Cardinal has been one of the top teams in the nation, going 527-87 (.858) and winning the 2021 national championship, advancing to two other title games, nine total Final Fours and the Sweet Sixteen all but one year. Stanford's 527 wins in her time as an assistant were the second-most of any team in the nation over that span.
Working primarily with Stanford's guards while on VanDerveer's staff, the Cardinal perimeter players under Paye's tutelage were selected in the first round of the WNBA Draft six times, captured four first-team All-America nods, three Pac-12 Player of the Year awards, two Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year awards and 28 first-team All-Pac-12 selections.
The nation clearly noticed Paye's prowess and she was twice selected as the Division I Assistant Coach of the Year by the WBCA (2022, 2024), the only coach to win the award multiple times.
A native of Woodside, Calif., Paye was a four-year member of the Stanford women's basketball team that claimed the national championship in 1992 and advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1995. A three-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection and two-time team captain, Paye scored 743 points and averaged 3.22 assists and a steal per game in her Stanford career.
Paye earned her bachelor's degree in political science from Stanford in 1995. She also graduated with distinction with both her Juris Doctorate and master's degree in business administration from Stanford in 2003. Paye worked as a corporate attorney for Palo Alto-based, Cooley Godward LLP, before returning to the game of basketball.
Out of college, Paye served as assistant coach at San Diego State during the 1995-96 season before going on to play basketball professionally, competing with the Seattle Reign of the ABL for three seasons (1996-98) and later with the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm from 2000-02.
Prior to returning to her alma mater, Paye was again on staff with the Aztecs for two seasons and was an assistant at Pepperdine in 2004-05.
In addition to being born at Stanford hospital, Paye’s entire immediate family all attended Stanford University. Both Paye’s father and brother, each named John, lettered as members of the Stanford football team. Her father lettered in 1962, while her brother, Stanford’s starting quarterback from 1983-86, currently ranks sixth all-time in the school record book with 7,669 career passing yards and sixth overall with a career mark of 7,539 yards of total offense. The younger John also earned three letters as a point guard with the Stanford men’s basketball team from 1984-86.
Kate and her wife, Raquel, have three children, Cass, Anne, and Lauren.
Paye’s Year-by-Year Coaching History
| Year |
School |
Role |
Record |
Conference |
Postseason |
| 2023-24 |
Stanford |
Associate Head Coach |
30-6 |
15-3/1st Pac-12 |
NCAA Sweet 16 |
| 2022-23 |
Stanford |
Associate Head Coach |
29-6 |
15-3/t1st Pac-12 |
NCAA Second Round |
| 2021-22 |
Stanford |
Associate Head Coach |
32-4 |
16-0/1st Pac-12 |
NCAA Final Four |
| 2020-21 |
Stanford |
Associate Head Coach |
31-2 |
19-2/1st Pac-12 |
NCAA Champions |
| 2019-20 |
Stanford |
Associate Head Coach |
27-6 |
14-4/t2nd Pac-12 |
COVID Cancellation |
| 2018-19 |
Stanford |
Associate Head Coach |
31-5 |
15-3/2nd Pac-12 |
NCAA Elite Eight |
| 2017-18 |
Stanford |
Associate Head Coach |
24-11 |
14-3/2nd Pac-12 |
NCAA Sweet Sixteen |
| 2016-17 |
Stanford |
Associate Head Coach |
32-6 |
15-3/t2nd Pac-12 |
NCAA Final Four |
| 2015-16 |
Stanford |
Assistant Coach |
27-8 |
14-4/t3rd Pac-12 |
NCAA Elite Eight |
| 2014-15 |
Stanford |
Assistant Coach |
26-10 |
13-5/t3rd Pac-12 |
NCAA Sweet Sixteen |
| 2013-14 |
Stanford |
Assistant Coach |
33-4 |
17-1/1st Pac-12 |
NCAA Final Four |
| 2012-13 |
Stanford |
Assistant Coach |
33-3 |
17-1/t1st Pac-12 |
NCAA Sweet Sixteen |
| 2011-12 |
Stanford |
Assistant Coach |
35-2 |
18-0/1st Pac-12 |
NCAA Final Four |
| 2010-11 |
Stanford |
Assistant Coach |
33-3 |
18-0/1st Pac-10 |
NCAA Final Four |
| 2009-10 |
Stanford |
Assistant Coach |
36-2 |
18-0/1st Pac-10 |
NCAA Runner-Up |
| 2008-09 |
Stanford |
Assistant Coach |
33-5 |
17-1/1st Pac-10 |
NCAA Final Four |
| 2007-08 |
Stanford |
Assistant Coach |
35-4 |
16-2/1st Pac-10 |
NCAA Runner-Up |
| 2006-07 |
San Diego State |
Assistant Coach |
12-16 |
5-11/7th Mountain West |
-- |
| 2005-06 |
San Diego State |
Assistant Coach |
3-24 |
0-16/9th Mountain West |
-- |
| 2004-05 |
Pepperdine |
Assistant Coach |
12-17 |
7-7/t3rd WCC |
-- |
| 1995-96 |
San Diego State |
Assistant Coach |
20-8 |
9-5/3rd WAC |
-- |
| |
at Stanford |
17 seasons |
527-87 (.858) |
271-35 (.886) |
|
| |
Total |
21 seasons |
574-152 (.791) |
292-74 (.798) |
|
Accolades and Honors
| Year |
Honor |
| 2024 |
WBCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year |
| 2023 |
A STEP UP Assistant Coaches Hall of Fame |
| 2022 |
WBCA Division I Assistant Coach of the Year |
