Stanford WBB: Tara VanDerveer on retirement before NCAA Tournament

Tara VanDerveer is willing to ponder retirement and talk about it.

She’ll probably even be good at transitioning away from college women’s basketball, judging from her success taking up piano when she was in her late 40s. That was 20 years ago, and VanDerveer still is making such beautiful music on the court that stepping away isn’t in the plan even if Stanford wins a second straight NCAA title, which would be her fourth overall.

VanDerveer goes into Stanford’s NCAA Tournament opener Friday against Montana State with 1,153 wins, already the most in women’s college basketball ahead of Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma (1,144). She eclipsed 1,000 wins at Stanford at last week’s Pac-12 Tournament and has 513 more in the Pac-12 than the second-winningest coach in conference history, Arizona State’s Charli Turner Thorne, who just retired.

Turner Thorne played at Stanford in VanDerveer’s first three seasons (1986-88) after her seven combined at Idaho and Ohio State. At 68, VanDerveer is completing her 43rd college head coaching season, not including 1995-96 when she was away from Stanford coaching the U.S. national team that won a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics.

VanDerveer is miles beyond having anything left to prove, particularly after winning a third national title 29 years after her second. That is liberating for someone who — like Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski — is deserving of staying or leaving on her terms. Krzyzewski is retiring after this season at 75 after 47 seasons as a college men’s head coach.

“I know it’s inevitable,” VanDerveer said. “I really enjoy working with the team, it’s still fresh for me. I don’t know, I think I’d be kind of bored. I love it and I’m really excited about our team. As long as it’s fun and as long as Bernard (Muir, Stanford athletic director) will have me, I want to try to keep doing it.

“I’ll be there sometime, but I’m not ready to figure out when.”

In the meantime, watching VanDerveer still at the peak of her game interacting with players as much as 50 years younger is an inter-generational treat.

“It never gets old,” senior guard Lexie Hull said after Stanford completed an undefeated Pac-12 season with its 15th tournament title. “I think Tara can attest to it. She loves it every time. We joke about it. Her best look is the backwards-hat Tara. The only way you get a backwards (baseball) hat is if you win. We love celebrating.”

Players will take what VanDerveer dishes out because of a respect for her that she mutually returns.

“I like to keep it real,” she said. “I can go in the locker room and I can be totally honest with our team. Just, hey, I love them, but it’s like parents, I don’t give them candy. They hear some things that they don’t want to hear. But they respond.”

Like in Las Vegas when the Cardinal won three tourney games by an average of 21 points after ending the regular season appearing vulnerable with three wins by a combined 18 points.

“That will help us in the long run in the NCAA Tournament and Pac-12 Tournament,” VanDerveer said Feb. 26. “You can’t relax. You’ve got to have people really ready to go.”

After her halftime critique in the tourney title game (up by only two points), the Cardinal dominated Utah 41-18 in the second half.

Stanford will begin its title defense as a No. 1 NCAA seed, playing at home in the first and second rounds (March 18-21). The Cardinal are in the Spokane regional (closest to home), where they potentially would contend for a 14th Final Four berth and ninth since 2008.

The only women’s coaches with more titles than VanDerveer are Auriemma (11) and the late Pat Summitt (8). If VanDerveer gets to four, she would break a tie with Kim Mulkey while becoming just the fourth coach of repeat champions. Then she might even give in to star guard Haley Jones to make another TikTok appearance.

“You know, honestly, I learn more from them than they ever could learn from me,” VanDerveer said. “I watch them and I learn a lot from them. They get a piece of my mind sometimes, but I’m the fortunate one to be around just incredible young ladies. It’s not just their basketball but the people they are.”

Those same people would beg to differ, that they could give more to VanDerveer than they receive. For as long as she’s willing to keep giving.

“I’m not sure Tara will ever stop coaching,” sixth-year guard Anna Wilson said. “Even when she stops coaching basketball, she’ll never stop being a coach to someone in how to be a female leader in business or whatever it is. She’s a legend. Whatever she ends up doing (post-Stanford), she’s going to do it wholeheartedly, with a lot of passion and energy. I hope she takes a break, but she’ll be great at whatever she does.”