Tara Vanderveer Retires (merged)

[CL82]

Bummer! But I like how she did the whole retirement thing. She did the Tim Duncan retirement. Didn't announce anything. Probably her staff knew but it was low key to the rest of folks. Appreciate you, Coach Tara. One of the GOATs of the coaching profession. Wishing you well.

A classy way to go out, in my view. no fanfare just a "goodbye and thanks for all the fish."

 

[Centerstream]

Have you heard Kiki is in the portal?

I haven't checked this morning, so I might be passing along some misinformation.
It was posted on Tuesday here on the BY that there were rumblings on X (Twitter).
However it was not clear to me whether it would be this offseason or next.
So, now let's return to the OP!!!

 

[and one]

It's sad to see Tara retire. She and Geno were the last of the great coaches of their generation. For many, most even I suspect, of us here on Boneyard, Geno and Tara have been huge figures in women's college basketball for a large chunk of our lives. The Pat Summits and McGraws are gone leaving only Geno as the last of the great coaches we've followed for 30 years or more. Now it's Dawn and (shiver) Kim's turn to be coaching giants for the younger fans of the game.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Some are saying with Stanford moving into the ACC that Tara didnt want to deal with all the additional traveling. Now being retired, she can deal with all of the additional traveling by vacationing around the world.

 

[Linart]

I feel so bad for the players who remain. Not only have they lost their HOF coach, but they can look forward to hours and hours on a plane to different time zones. Depending on their majors, that may not be possible. Basketball, with all the practices and games, takes a toll on social life and families. Add to that, this new travel requirement, and I see a drop-off in quality recruits, despite Stamford being a superb school.

 

[DefenseBB]

Wow!

OMG, just like the annoying PAC12 announcers, the hubris that Stanford and the network shows by stating “GOAT” is astounding. She CURRENTLY has the most wins so if you want to state “Winningest” Coach of all time fine but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES is she the GOAT.

In the pantheon of WCBB she currently ranks 4th and will soon be 5th behind Geno, Pat, Kim and soon-Dawn.

That is still unbelievable but nowhere near GOAT status.

Thanks for a truly remarkable career and for your huge, contributions to Women’s basketball (College, Olympics and launch of professional). You will be missed.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

There is no disputing Tara's coaching prowess. She has always been something of an enigma to me because she is second only to the Celtic's "the Chief" in being stone faced. Winning or losing she'd sit on that bench with no visible emotion.

 

[Sargassoc]

That will be one tough hire because of the academic constraints on recruitment. It has to be someone who can recruit a kid who can both play but belong at the school. Stanford doesn't mess around with recruits. Berube has proven she can, but, selfishly, I want her as Geno's replacement (but not yet-- so really selfishly, I get it).

 

[VA Huskie]

Guys, someone check on me in the morning...

A sad day for you and other Farm fans. But what a run she’s had!

 

[VA Huskie]

I credit (unofficially, of course) Tara with 29 more wins for the '95-96 year that she coached the national team. As I said in another post, I don't think she cares about having the most wins.

I think she is credited for those wins in her totals.

 

[VA Huskie]

OMG, just like the annoying PAC12 announcers, the hubris that Stanford and the network shows by stating “GOAT” is astounding. She CURRENTLY has the most wins so if you want to state “Winningest” Coach of all time fine but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES is she the GOAT.

In the pantheon of WCBB she currently ranks 4th and will soon be 5th behind Geno, Pat, Kim and soon-Dawn.

That is still unbelievable but nowhere near GOAT status.

Thanks for a truly remarkable career and for your huge, contributions to Women’s basketball (College, Olympics and launch of professional). You will be missed.

Well, the release was put out by StanfordWBB after all.

 

[triaddukefan]

The timing makes sense, though I'm a bit disappointed that I wont see her roaming the sideline at Cameron Indoor next season. Of the five coaching legends including Summitt, Aueriemna, Mulkey, Staley, she was the only one Ive never seen coach in person.

 

[oldude]

OMG, just like the annoying PAC12 announcers, the hubris that Stanford and the network shows by stating “GOAT” is astounding. She CURRENTLY has the most wins so if you want to state “Winningest” Coach of all time fine but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES is she the GOAT.

In the pantheon of WCBB she currently ranks 4th and will soon be 5th behind Geno, Pat, Kim and soon-Dawn.

That is still unbelievable but nowhere near GOAT status.

Thanks for a truly remarkable career and for your huge, contributions to Women’s basketball (College, Olympics and launch of professional). You will be missed.

So wait a minute. Tara was referred to as the “GOAT” in a post on X by Stanford WBB? Doesn’t Tara have some level of control and input into posts by Stanford WBB? So is Tara referring to herself as the GOAT?

 

[CL82]

So wait a minute. Tara was referred to as the “GOAT” in a post on X by Stanford WBB? Doesn’t Tara have some level of control and input into posts by Stanford WBB? So is Tara referring to herself as the GOAT?

Lol, it's puffery, let it go. (For what it's worth, she is the greatest of all time at Stanford.)

 

[freekimchee]

Legend leaves on top. Congrats, Coach!

 

[topogigio]

Congrats to Tara on her retirement, and outstanding career. Way to go out; on top, no fanfare, and no retirement tour! Classy. That being said, make book there is a whole community really angry Geno is still coaching and will soon break her all time wins record!

 

[UcMiami]

Great coach, who with time to prepare, could give Geno and his greatest teams fits, with her planning and her teams execution. One of the best tacticians and bench coaches. Goes out on top at a time of her choosing.

I think Stanford had the transition plan in place, and I will not be surprised if they retain both their current players and their current recruits. Stanford recruiting has always been a mixture of Tara and the school - a Stanford degree is impressive whether you enter the working world immediately after graduation of after a 10 year professional career.

The headwind of the ACC move, and the reality of life after Tara may begin to chip away from the attractiveness to recruits in time, but I think it will be a gradual process.

 

[CL82]

Congrats to Tara on her retirement, and outstanding career. Way to go out; on top, no fanfare, and no retirement tour! Classy. That being said, make book there is a whole community really angry Geno is still coaching and will soon break her all time wins record!

For what it's worth, I think Geno will go out the same way. One day he'll just make an announcement, hopefully not too soon.

 

[DefenseBB]

Wow!

OMG, just like the annoying PAC12 announcers, the hubris that Stanford and the network shows by stating “GOAT” is astounding. She CURRENTLY has the most wins so if you want to state “Winningest” Coach of all time fine but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES is she the GOAT.

In the pantheon of WCBB she currently ranks 4th and will soon be 5th behind Geno, Pat, Kim and soon-Dawn.

That is still unbelievable but nowhere near GOAT status.

Thanks for a truly remarkable career and for your huge, contributions to Women’s basketball (College, Olympics and launch of professional). You will be missed

 

[TCC Kid]

Tara VanDerveer Announces Retirement After 38 Seasons at Stanford

College basketball's all-time wins leader concludes her legendary coaching career with 1,216 victories and three NCAA titles.

gostanford.com

Geno shall now exceed her record. That's fair

 

[Fairfield Fan]

What a horror for the student/athletes at Stanford when they have to fly seven hours each way to East Coast universities for basketball games. I'm guessing that they'll be grouping games together within regions. But if so, say UNC and NC State and Florida together, when in the world will they be able to attend class and take exams? One of Stanford's great draws was its educational quality. If you're going to be away from campus for a week at a time or more during the regular season, what kind of education can these young people possibly receive?

Terrible mistake. Huge burden for the athlets.

 

[TCC Kid]

For what it's worth, I think Geno will go out the same way. One day he'll just make an announcement, hopefully not too soon.

I thought that, but, Geno won't stop until the end of a year. He should have been Coach of this year. Wow, getting to the FF, amazing.

 

[TCC Kid]

What a horror for the student/athletes at Stanford when they have to fly seven hours each way to East Coast universities for basketball games. I'm guessing that they'll be grouping games together within regions. But if so, say UNC and NC State and Florida together, when in the world will they be able to attend class and take exams? One of Stanford's great draws was its educational quality. If you're going to be away from campus for a week at a time or more during the regular season, what kind of education can these young people possibly receive?

Terrible mistake. Huge burden for the athlets.

That stinks. Geno flew all over the place with tired kids. It is bad no matter who is doing it, it was more than a mistake --it was damaging to the players. Who could think this right??