Thompson: Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer's historic milestone deserves historic honors

PALO ALTO, Calif. – The packed room at Maples Pavilion didn't wait for the final horn to begin Tara VanDerveer's serenade.

As freshman forward Nunu Agara dribbled into the frontcourt and Oregon State coach Scott Rueck gestured to his Beavers not to make a mistake, it became inevitable that it would become official. The crowd stood up and roared loud enough to make this historic event tangible.

VanDerveer joined Duke legend Mike Krzyzewski in the gym on Sunday for the most wins in NCAA basketball history. Upstairs she would leave alone.

Senior guard Hannah Jump waved to the serenade. Time expired. The 65-56 victory over Oregon State – win No. 1,203 – was in the record books. Kiki Iriafen scored a career-high 36 points, including the first two 3-pointers of her career. But her performance was just the appetizer, lathering up the crowd for the main event. VanDerveer had made Coach K the winningest coach in college basketball. It was time for the house that Tara built to honor its architect. The basis was now the shop window.

The crowd began fervently chanting, “Ta-ra! Ta-ra! Ta-ra!”

But wait. Not so fast.

Tara loves the game of basketball and so does her 🫶🏀#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/fiYsUd4ZiC

— Stanford WBB 🤓🏀 (@StanfordWBB) January 22, 2024

Before Cameron Brink could dump a Gatorade bucket of gold confetti on her coach (who seemed relieved it wasn't Gatorade). Before the roughly four-foot tall numbers, 1203, could be set up as props at this Palo Alto hoop party. Before the stage could be set up and videos played and speeches made. VanDerveer walked to the other side of the sideline and hugged Rueck.

Because you can't reach 1,203 without consistency, without discipline from old eras, without humility that is relevant in any era. She climbed this mountain by not skipping steps, by appreciating every rep. Even not reaching the top is worth a deviation from the principle.

So VanDerveer walked down the line. She hugged the opposing assistant coaches. She shook hands with each Beavers player and greeted them with a smile and a kind word. It wasn't until she got through them all that she let the spotlight of the occasion focus on her.

Now the ultimate deflector had to accept her flowers.

“When I think of you, one word comes to mind,” Jennifer Azzi, one of Cardinal Hoops' famous mainstays, said in a video played on the big board. “And that is excellence.”

This place should be called Tara Pavilion. She didn't build it with her hands in 1969. She didn't renovate it in 2005. But she gave it life. She made it relevant. Her teams. Her success. Her tradition.

The last time the men's team brought a championship here was in 1942. But it wasn't here yet. Maples wouldn't open for another 27 years. The value of this place is based on the standard the women's basketball program set when VanDerveer took over in 1985. The outpouring of love has been brewed through years of teams and players worthy of affinity.

She didn't shy away from Stanford's academic standards, which can be a barrier to recruitment, because it definitely fits her holistic message about work ethic.

She has three national titles, 14 Final Fours, 15 first-team All-Americans, 25 conference championships, 30 WNBA players and countless moments to her name.

And 1,203 wins.

Every Mount Rushmore basketball coach must have a bob and bangs.

“We all know that beyond the statistics,” Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said in the tribute video, “beyond the wins and losses and everything else, it's the impact you've had on so many young lives.”

The meaning of this moment was present in the energy. In who was present. Condoleezza Rice. Andrew's luck. Chiney Ogwumike. Azzi came in with two kids, 6 and 3, which could be as impressive as Stanford's first Naismith National Player of the Year in 1990.

“Most of the time I'm not lost,” she told fans. “But it's pretty impressive. All these people here. All the former players are coming back.”

A stream of former players took part in the festivities. Backing vocals were provided by a sea of ​​fans in cardinal red, many of whom have spent years watching VanDerveer mold young women as they racked up victories.

What everyone here knows is that this party belongs in this place. This location, this audience, this central figure are worthy of this spotlight. This neck of the woods is fundamental to the sport flourishing at new levels.

The torch carried today by the likes of A'ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark, Dawn Staley and Sabrina Ionescu, got some of its spark from this vibrant hoops center, nestled in these manicured forests of intellectual prosperity. The story of women's hoops cannot be told without Stanford women's basketball. And the name Tara VanDerveer is an adjective for its quality.

Ex-Stanford QB Andrew Luck, here with two daughters, on Tara: “I'm just a fan. She's part of what makes a place like this so special. I think there are so many lessons to be learned from anyone in any profession especially in sports and how she does it. I know I learn from her.”

— Janie McCauley (@JanieMcCAP) January 22, 2024

Nike commemorated VanDerveer's achievement with a white bomber jacket plastered with red markings. One for every win. The sporty seventy-something, still fit enough to jump off the couch and light a fire in his twenties, put on the jacket. It seemed like getting another 500 wins isn't off the table.

“I've had such an incredible life,” VanDerveer said from a podium erected as her pedestal. “I do not want anything. What I have is here.”

The podium was baptized by Ros Gold-Onwude, who played five seasons for VanDerveer, appeared in three Final Fours and built a reputation on defense. She is now a versatile broadcaster for ESPN and hosted the festivities. She did a Q&A with Azzi and Ogwumike.

A video played at Maples included praise from Billie Jean King, Coach K, Staley and 2016 WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike. But it was Lisa Leslie who crashed the Stanford party to declare herself VanDerveer's favorite. Leslie, the USC star, played under VanDerveer in the 1996 Olympics, along with hoops such as Sheryl Swoopes, Teresa Edwards, Rebecca Lobo and Staley. VanDerveer took a year off from Stanford to coach this team during a 52-0 exhibition tour that laid the foundation for women's basketball in America.

Later in 1996, the American Basketball League was launched as the nation's first women's professional basketball league. The WNBA followed in 1997.

“I'm not perfect,” VanDerveer said. “I never claimed to be perfect. We talk about victories, but we also lost a lot.”

No fewer than 267 games in 45 seasons. But her point is real. Winning 81.8 percent of her matches isn't the only reason she's worthy of this moment. It's the bar that Stanford has represented in women's basketball, held up by her sinewy arms and vintage conviction. Those who celebrated her on Sunday spoke not of her treasure trove of victories, but of her principles and modus operandi.

“You have personally helped influence my life and the way I move,” Leslie said in the video. “I always remember that repetition of mistakes….”

Leslie pointed to Chiney Ogwumike, who completed the last part of the VanDerveer truism:

“Shows a lack of intelligence.”

No disrespect to Roscoe Maples, whose $1.7 million donation led to the construction of the original Stanford Hoops home.

But this is Tara's house. She built it up. She endured. And as the winningest college basketball coach, she deserves to have her name carried.

(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)