Stanford University women’s basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer etched herself into the record books this past weekend by becoming the all-time NCAA’s leader in wins for either men or women’s basketball.
VanDerveer surpassed former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski with her 1,203rd career victory at Maples Pavilion following a 65-56 win over Oregon State in Pac-12 action on Jan. 21.
The longtime coach took a minute to thank everybody in attendance that cheered for VanDerveer, who has spent the past 45 years on the sidelines as a coach.
According to a post on Stanford’s official website, a video tribute with messages from Billie Jean King to Steve Kerr, Dawn Staley and Krzyzewski showed on the big screen.
“I want to bring attention to the beauty of women’s basketball and the wonderfulness of these players that work so hard,” said VanDerveer as she addressed the crowd after Sunday’s game. “I’m so jealous because I never got to do what they get to do and I’m able to watch a little girl’s dream play out through them.”
With the win, VanDerveer improved to 1,203-267 overall and 1,051-216 over 38 seasons at Stanford.
VanDerveer was a 17-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year with five national Coach of the Year honors, capturing three NCAA titles with Stanford (1990, ’92 and 2021) and coached the 1996 U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal during the summer games in Atlanta.
