An historic career is coming to an end tonight,
Stanford women's basketball head coach Tara Vandeveer announcing her retirement
after
38 seasons at the University.
The legendary coach is saying goodbye.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Julie Haner.
And I'm Mike Meebach. Tara Vandeveer has been at Stanford
University since
1985. Not only as she led the Cardinal to three
national titles,
but she is the winningest head coach in basketball in
NC 2A history.
Jason with us now, I mean,
what she did for not only the program but for
the game will have lasting impacts here.
And we're seeing it just now with Caitlin Clark and
the rise of women's college basketball and the ratings and
how many people are watching it.
You can trace a lot of that back to Tara
Vandeveer,
but we're about to experience a monumental shift in the
college basketball landscape.
Tara Vandeveer, a pioneer in the sports synonymous with Stanford
basketball.
Hard to even imagine that program and without her,
but Vandeveer is indeed stepping down after
38 seasons on The Farm and
45 years in all as a head coach,
which includes stops at Idaho and Ohio State before arriving
at Stanford in
1985. She retires with 12116 career wins,
making her the winningest coach in
NCAA history, a record she set this past January when
she passed legendary Duke coach Mike Schefsky.
Vanderveer not only racked up wins,
she also delivered championships, leading the Cardinal to 14 Final
Four appearances and three national championships,
the most recent coming in
2021 when the Cardinal beat Arizona for the title.
She did take one year off from Stanford in
1995, and she did so to coach
Team USA. That team went 60 and O,
won the Olympic gold medal in 96 in Atlanta,
and is widely considered the greatest women's team ever assembled.
In 2011, Vanderveer she was inducted into the Naismith Basketball
Hall of Fame,
and now, at age 70,
the time was just right for her to say goodbye
to the sport that she loves.
A press conference has been scheduled for tomorrow morning,
but in a statement tonight,
Vanderveer said in part, quote,
The joy for me was in the journey of each
season,
seeing a group of young women work hard for each
other and form an unbreakable bond.
Winning was a byproduct. I've loved the game of basketball
since I was a little girl,
and it has given me so much throughout my life.
I hope I've been able to give at least a
little back,
Stanford says. Negotiations are underway for one of
Vanderveer's former players, Kate Pay,
to become her successor. Pay is currently the associate head
women's basketball coach,
and she has been on
Vanderveer staff for the last 17 seasons and Pay.
She would become the program's fifth head coach.
And Vanderveer's last day is going to be May 8th.
That that would be the 39th anniversary on that day
of her original hire.
So it it's, you know,
it's just it's shocking, but it's not shocking.
She's 70 years old. You can't do it forever.
And you know she's done it all And she says
it's time to move on.
Kind of pioneering her way paving the way for so
many women who wanted coach like after her.
Like you said, not surprising but not completely expected either.
Has there been reaction from players?
Yeah, I mean the social media and I was texting
with Jennifer Azie and she says has been a a
whirlwind of a day for her.
Azie won first title with her
at Stanford and she was on that basketball team that
I mentioned that was 60 and O as well.
We're going to catch up with Jennifer Easy tomorrow.
So yeah, a lot of outpouring coming in on social
media.
I'm sure you guys will have it.
And later in sports, we're going to hear from Tara
after she set that record to pass Mike Schefsky.
And if you listen to that,
you can kind of hear in her voice and maybe
this was going to be the year she didn't announce
her retirement back then.
But if you, if you kind of listen to that,
you kind of get the.
And she not only was there as a coach for
these great athletes,
but teaching these young athletes how to be a good
person whether you continue in the WNBA or not.
Yeah. Just be a good person in life.
And that's what she kind of said in in her
in in her statement it it was it's about the
journey.
It's about leading women seeing the bond and winning was
a brought byproduct and nobody won more than her.
All right. So amazing career.
All right, Jason. Thank you.
All right. Let's talk about that reaction.
It has been pouring in out there on social media
tonight.
Former Stanford player and former Golden State Warriors sideline reporter
Roz Gold on Wu Day.
Riding on X tonight. Wow.
Congrats to Tara on a historic,
winningest ever career. When we celebrate today's astronomical ratings in
women's hoops,
know that Tara was one of The Pioneers who made
all of this possible.
Tara, thank you for changing my life right off into
the sunset.
You deserve it. And former Cardinal and current Indiana Fever
forward Erica McCall also speaking out tonight on social media.
You impacted my life in the most positive way.
I am so honored to have played for you and
coach next to you.
You are my forever goat.
Thank you, Tara, My coach always.
And as Jason mentioned, Tara van der Veer's retirement comes
at a crucial moment for women's basketball.
For the first time ever,
the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament final drew more viewers than
the
men's final. According to Nielsen Media Research,
the women's final Sunday between South Carolina and Iowa had
18.9 million viewers. That's nearly four times what the women's
final drew just two years ago.
The high number was fueled in part by Iowa standout
Caitlin Clark's rise to superstardom.
The men's final last night between Connecticut and Purdue was
watched by
14.8 million viewers, 4 million fewer than the women's final.
And you can find the very latest on college basketball,
Tara Van der Veer's retirement and her historic career.
It's all on our website at
ktvu.com.