Congratulations Tara VanDerveer!

[EricLA]

With last night's win over Cal, she tied Pat Summitt for the most victories in Division I women's basketball, with 1,098. An incredible achievement by any measure - one legend catching up to another legend. Exciting news for sure, and I thought it deserved its' own thread. I know it technically may belong on the general board, but given that Geno and Tara were so close to Pat's record, it's definitely news related to UCONN. Congrats Tara!!!

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer ties Pat Summitt's Division I record with 1,098th win

 

[blkkirk]

Am amazing accomplishment for a really good coach.

 

[MSGRET]

Yes, Congrats is in order. Too bad she won't hold it as long as Pat Summit did. Geno WILL pass Tara within the next year and stay ahead of her.

 

[EricLA]

Yes, Congrats is in order. Too bad she won't hold it as long as Pat Summit did. Geno WILL pass Tara within the next year and stay ahead of her.

I hope you are right but... Tara is 67 years old. Geno is 66 years old (I just asked Alexa so if anyone thinks those ages are wrong, let me know! ).

Tara has been recruiting gangbusters, as has Geno. Personally I think Geno has been recruiting better, but if you look at the top 10 and top 20 kids Tara has landed the past 2-3 years, and going forward, very few teams have recruited better. My point is I expect a lot of final 4's in Stanford's future.

Having said that, the Pac 12 is way tougher than the Big East. Oregon, O State, UCLA, and up and comers like Arizona could certainly spring an upset or 2. Not to mention whoever they play OOC. We will see tho! Gonna be a fun next few years!!

 

[MSGRET]

I hope you are right but... Tara is 67 years old. Geno is 66 years old (I just asked Alexa so if anyone thinks those ages are wrong, let me know! ).

Tara has been recruiting gangbusters, as has Geno. Personally I think Geno has been recruiting better, but if you look at the top 10 and top 20 kids Tara has landed the past 2-3 years, and going forward, very few teams have recruited better. My point is I expect a lot of final 4's in Stanford's future.

Having said that, the Pac 12 is way tougher than the Big East. Oregon, O State, UCLA, and up and comers like Arizona could certainly spring an upset or 2. Not to mention whoever they play OOC. We will see tho! Gonna be a fun next few years!!

I don't see Tara coaching longer than Geno, but you may be correct. I don't think UConn will lose any games in the Big East, while I do see Tara losing some in the PAC 12 this year.

 

[HopJim]

Last I looked, she had a 100% graduation rate. Tough place to recruit but has always done well. Class act!

 

[Kevin G]

She’s a great coach and a true ambassador for women’s basketball. Congrats!

 

[Bonpland]

Yes, Congrats is in order. Too bad she won't hold it as long as Pat Summit did. Geno WILL pass Tara within the next year and stay ahead of her.

Is it likely that we will play fewer games this year than Stanford? I like Geno's chances of catching her but I'm not sure it will be before next Christmas. Either way both he and Tara have been instrumental in building the game we love and we can all be thankful for their contributions.

 

[Alydar]

Last I looked, she had a 100% graduation rate. Tough place to recruit but has always done well. Class act!

Geno once listed Stanford and Duke as the only 2 schools he ever would consider moving to because the schools and their campuses recruit for the coach. I have read endless posts over the years from tree fans saying how tough it is to find players that meet the tough admission standards but the reality is that Stanford lands more elite talent than just about every other D1 program in the country.

 

[Woof 101]

I hope you are right but... Tara is 67 years old. Geno is 66 years old

Congrats to Tara for what many believe to be a milestone achievement. Nothing against those that feel different but her already being in the HOF is paramount to a career in my opinion.
Again not to take anything away from the number of wins achieved, and the fact I have never completely forgiven Pat Summit, it should be noted. Pat stepped away from coaching in 2012 at the age of 60 still on a winning pace. Had she been able to continue coaching the numbers to chase would have been much greater.

 

[JordyG]

Tara's has had her scratch my head moments, but never on the court. She's the best BB coach not named Geno. Congratulations to the coach I most like to watch, to the coach I fear facing the most, and the best kind of representative for WCBB I can think of. I'll be a sad day for BB when she retires.

 

[Carnac]

Tara would have eclipsed Pat’s record earlier this year during the national tournament had it not been canceled. The Covid simply delayed the inevitable.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Why I love Tara, in a nutshell:

"I just would like to say to everybody, basketball was invented as, always has been and always will be a great team sport," she said. "Yes, this might be a record that has Tara VanDerveer's name next to it but it is about the athletic directors that hired me, gave me a chance, whether it's been at Ohio State, Idaho or Stanford. It's been about great, great, great assistant coaches that have worked extremely hard for our program and it's about having great players. My dad, who passed away over 20 years now, said, 'You don't win the Kentucky Derby on donkeys.'"

Couldn't be more gracious in acknowledging how many people worked to make her record possible.

I would be very surprised if this record won't be Geno's for good one day, and that's the way it should be, all things considered. But I'm also glad she gets to have it for a while, because she's right up there in the pantheon alongside Pat and Geno as the GOAT coaches in WCBB.

 

[willtalk]

In todays reality, I don't think anything can be taken for granted. No one really knows when a coaches career will come to a end. We can just look at the situation now and the effect it has had on the number of games being canceled. We don't really know how many games will be available for any team to play for the remainder of the season. It may get totally shut down at any time.

 

[caseyb7]

ESPN2 is carrying the Stanford game tonight.

Historic event, should be good commentary on Pat, Tara, Geno.

 

[CL82]

Geno once listed Stanford and Duke as the only 2 schools he ever would consider moving to because the schools and their campuses recruit for the coach. I have read endless posts over the years from tree fans saying how tough it is to find players that meet the tough admission standards but the reality is that Stanford lands more elite talent than just about every other D1 program in the country.

When was this? I remembered she knows saying that one of the few teams said he would go to as a men’s basketball coach would be Duke.

 

[CL82]

One interesting and unexpected factor in the race to catch pan and the race for most wins by a woman basketball head coach is Covid. The team that can manage to play the most games this year is going to have a distinct advantage.

Congratulations to Tara. I’ve always respected her abilities as a head coach.

 

[Plebe]

I know some days have passed since number 1099, but I just saw this nice retrospective on Tara's career and thought others might enjoy it, too.