Alexa Filippo, ESPN
Stanford announced Tuesday night that NCAA basketball coach Tara Vanderver, who had 1,216 wins over 45 years, has retired.
The school added that negotiations are underway for Kate Paye, a former player and longtime staff member under VanderWerver, to replace her.
VanderWer, 70, is one of the all-time great coaches in the sport, with 38 winning seasons and 14 Final Four appearances at Stanford. Naismith and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer previously coached at Idaho (1978 to 1980) and Ohio State (1980 to 1985).
“Basketball is the ultimate team project and I am extremely grateful to everyone who has helped me and our teams throughout my coaching career,” Vanderver said in a statement. “I’ve been spoiled for four decades coaching the best and brightest at one of the best institutions in the world. Coupled with my time at Ohio State and Idaho and being the head coach of the United States National Team, it’s been unforgettable. The ride for me has been the thrill of every season, the young women’s team. It’s about seeing them work hard for each other and form an unbreakable bond.
“I’ve loved the game of basketball since I was little, and it’s given me a lot throughout my life. I hope I can give back at least a little.”
Vanderver, who finished with an all-time record of 1,216-271 (81.8%), will continue to work with Stanford and the athletic department as a consultant, the school said.
“Tara’s name is synonymous with the sport and women’s basketball will never be the trailblazer she is now,” Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir said in a statement. “She has lived on this campus for 40 years and has been a servant to all student-athletes who have come through her program. Tara immediately built one of the premier sports programs upon her arrival at Stanford and has maintained that status for nearly four decades.
“An energetic and positive teacher, Hall of Famer, loyal friend and mentor, Tara’s influence is simply unparalleled, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to describe her as one of the most influential people ever associated with this university. Here at Stanford, we look forward to finding appropriate ways to honor her profound impact and legacy.
Vanderveer earned her 1,203rd career victory in a 65-56 decision at Oregon State on Jan. 21, surpassing retired Duke and Army coach Mike Krzyzewski’s NCAA record of 1,202. Her last win came in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Maples Pavilion when the Cardinal defeated Iowa State. Two-seed Stanford lost to eventual Final Four team NC State in the Portland Region 4 semifinals.
Vanderver — a Massachusetts native who grew up in New York — may be best known for establishing a West Coast stronghold in California, but her influence and excellence was felt nationally and beyond. She has led Stanford to the NCAA Tournament every season since 1988, with a streak of 36 consecutive appearances, second only to Tennessee. She joined UConn’s Geno Auriemma (136) and Tennessee’s Pat Summitt (112) in totaling at least 100 NCAA Tournament wins while compiling 28 Sweet 16 and 21 Elite Eight stops.
Her 14 finals appearances are third behind Auriemma (23) and Summitt (18) and she is one of five coaches with at least three national titles (along with Auriemma, Summitt, Baylor/LSU’s Kim Mulkey and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley).
During the 1995-96 campaign out of Stanford, VanderWer served as the head coach of the US National Team in preparation for the 1996 Olympic Games. The team’s undefeated run in Atlanta — the program’s first active streak of seven gold medals and counting — is considered a major starting point for the formation of the WNBA in 1997.
Perhaps it’s fitting that Vanderver stepped down from coaching in the wake of the Pac-12 conference collapse. The conference realignment of the past two years will take a big hit this summer as 10 Pac-12 schools leave for the Big Ten, Big 12 or ACC.
For decades, Stanford has been synonymous with Pac-12 women’s basketball, winning 27 conference regular-season titles since 1989, as well as 15 of its 23 tournament crowns. Other Pac-12 coaches like Vanderver’s on-court and off-court standards at Stanford have elevated the conference to one of the nation’s most highly regarded women’s basketball leagues.
The Pac-12 boasted five teams in the Sweet 16 last season, the result of a concerted effort to build the conference under the leadership of Vanderver.
“Tara is a legend internationally, but she means a lot to me personally,” longtime UCLA coach Corey Close told ESPN. She is amazing in her results, her mentorship and her role model. The game will be indebted to her for a long time.
Before the start of the last Pac-12 season, VanderWer told ESPN she was “thrilled” the school found a new home in the ACC under such tough circumstances.
“I think it’s going to be a fantastic conference for women’s basketball,” Vanderver told ESPN in October. “We’re really thankful that the ACC wanted Stanford. And the biggest thing for us is to continue to be able to compete at a high level, and I want to coach players who want that combination of great academics and great basketball. We’ve recruited a lot of kids from the East Coast, so our recruiting will be good.”
VanderWer has produced successful WNBA players (such as former No. 1s Nika and Chinni Oguwmike, Jennifer Azzi and Candice Wiggins) over the decade since the league’s inception, sending a total of 30 to the WNBA draft — the second-most by a head coach. . Cameron Brink, who was recently named Pac-12 Player of the Year, is expected to be a lottery pick in next week’s draft.
“She takes the game seriously, she treats the players with the respect it deserves, a platform that inspires us beyond our wildest dreams,” Cheney told ESPN. “Tara laughs, she dances, she always respects the team in front of her.”
Vanderver’s last official day at Stanford will be May 8, her 39th year on the job, the school said. A news conference will be held on campus on Wednesday.
Auriemma, who has coached his entire career at UConn since 1985, will enter the 2023-24 campaign three shy of Vanderver’s record mark of 1,213 wins.
Peay, who played for Vanderveer from 1991 to 1995, has spent the past 17 years on the Vanderver staff, including eight as associate head coach.