Is Tara VanDerveer the most underrated great coach in America?

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Tara is very well thought of, I think. I don't think she is underrated by those that know of her, but - and I'm getting jaundiced by some of what I have read lately - I suspect there is a world of WBB fans that have no particular idea of who she is, etc. Simply because their teams have had no particular contact with her, she hasn't been a regular to final fours of late, and 1996 was a long time ago.

Heck, I met a fan once who didn't know the difference between Stanford, Samford and Stamford. It was a while back, but I'm not kidding.

 

[newfrontier]

Well, Rueck was ranked as the #1 most underrated women's bb coach by an anonymous survey of 217 wbb coaches.

 

[HopJim]

From an Article written Feb 2017 -
They give no trophies or parades or rings as big as headlights for such things, and they don’t put it on plaques or the covers of media guides, but it can fairly be said that Tara VanDerveer is the most underrated great coach in America. In any sport.

VanDerveer is a chunk of the weekend away from winning her 1,000th college basketball game, either Friday against Southern California or Monday against UCLA. It would make her the third coach in history after Pat Summitt and Mike Krzyzewski to achieve that well-rounded milestone, and you may bet hard American currency that she will answer the hackneyed, “What does this mean to you?” question with a dismissive “It means I’ve been around for a long time.”

Is Tara VanDerveer the most underrated great coach in America?

Which is part of why she is so underrated. She’s been around for a very long time – next year will be her 40th – and between Idaho (two years), Ohio State (five), Stanford (30) and the U.S. Olympic Team (one), a very long time in this culture is an excuse to overlook, and overlooking leads to dismissing, and dismissing leads to underrating.

Next, she’s done most of her work on the West Coast, which due to the curvature of the earth, has always been undervalued by the opinion makers in the East and Midwest by virtue of that traditional cultural defining point, bedtime.

Curious why anyone would think Tara is underrated. Her teams that past few years have not been as talented as in some timeframes, so there has been less publicity. West Coast teams also typically have less TV view time, but I know of few educated Women's Basketball fans who don't rate her highly. As with any school, as she begins to win more again she will likely get more PR.

 

[Bigboote]

If the west coast teams want to get more attention, the Pac12 Network should be more widely available.

That said, I think Tara is at the top of the second echelon of coaches, with the top echelon consisting of Geno and Pat. If you have fewer echelons, then Tara would be in the top echelon, along with Mulkey, Jody Conradt, and a few others.

 

[DefenseBB]

I don't think she's underrated...I think most people on here would consider her a consensus top 5 coach in the country. Until April, many here ripped on Muffet for not being able to win another title despite being in the hunt almost every year, but Tara's track record the last 25 years has been far worse, yet no one seems to criticize her or her teams when they've come up short. I'd probably rank her as the 3rd or 4th best coach in the nation along with Vic Schaefer.

I agree with you on Tara-she is NOT under-rated. She is also a top 5 with the knock being she hasn't won it all since 1992 (yikes!). I think it's 11 Final Fours and 2 other finalist defeats if I am not mistaken. Mulkey also has 2 titles and Brenda has been pretty consistent as well. Vic is no spring chicken so while he's had a nice run here with MSU in the last 2+ years, he needs to make it back and win one to be put into the elite.

Any discussion that doesn't put the elite as Geno, Muffet, Tara is just absolutely stupid. You can put a "2nd Tier" with Mulkey, Freese and Dawn if you want but don't put down someone with 2 titles, 11 FF appearances, an Olympic Gold and you have to add Muffet-2 titles, 4 other finalist appearances and 2 other FF'. That is some serious hoops coaching.

 

[nwhoopfan]

If the west coast teams want to get more attention, the Pac12 Network should be more widely available.

Unfortunately the Pac 12 commish is a dope and the situation will probably never improve as long as he is in charge. Pretty much everybody out here hates him, I'm not sure why he hasn't been sent packing. He's also one of, if not the highest paid conference commissioners. Poor return on investment. I think Pac 12 revenues are behind all the other P5 conferences and overall performance in football and men's hoops have been dismal the last year or two. Olympic sports are kicking butt, but those aren't the ones that generate revenue.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Unfortunately the Pac 12 commish is a dope and the situation will probably never improve as long as he is in charge. Pretty much everybody out here hates him, I'm not sure why he hasn't been sent packing. He's also one of, if not the highest paid conference commissioners. Poor return on investment. I think Pac 12 revenues are behind all the other P5 conferences and overall performance in football and men's hoops have been dismal the last year or two. Olympic sports are kicking butt, but those aren't the ones that generate revenue.

Yep. It especially hurts because we don't get the network because we love our DirecTV. So, so frustrating.

 

[LoTrader]

Tara is not underrated out here on the west coast.

 

[Undercovervol]

If Holly Warlick is ever finally let go at UT, maybe Tara would come to rocky top. Though, now she has some great recruits, so it’s a fool’s hope.

 

[TheFarmFan]

If Holly Warlick is ever finally let go at UT, maybe Tara would come to rocky top. Though, now she has some great recruits, so it’s a fool’s hope.

I would be gobsmacked if Tara didn't retire from coaching at Stanford. I just can't see any universe where she'd want to leave, at this stage, and the universal consensus is the job is hers as long as she wants it.

 

[bballnut90]

If Holly Warlick is ever finally let go at UT, maybe Tara would come to rocky top. Though, now she has some great recruits, so it’s a fool’s hope.

Tara is 65 years old and is a legend at Stanford, plus has title potential on her teams for the next 5 years....the hire would make zero sense for both parties involved.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Agree with above, there is no way Tara is going anywhere else. Don't know how many years she will continue to coach, but undoubtedly she will be at Stanford until she decides she's had enough.

 

[reno tony]

If Holly Warlick is ever finally let go at UT, maybe Tara would come to rocky top. Though, now she has some great recruits, so it’s a fool’s hope.

LOL Thanks for the laugh.

 

[Waquoit]

By properly rated I'm saying she's an all-time great, at the top of the next level of coaches under Geno and PHS, along with McGraw.

 

[Sakibomb25]

Well the reason Tara doesn't have more than 2 is because of a guy named Geno... One more than one occasion his teams have thwarted our attempts!

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I would seriously put Tara as #3 behind Geno and Muffet. She's been a great coach for many years and even her less than stellar Stanford teams aren't an easy win for anyone and are never too far outside the conversation. Her best Stanford teams in recent memory were very good but just not as good as UConn.
I'm not sure she coaches many more years but who knows.