March 17, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

A Tradition Renewed

by Rick Eymer

Tara VanDerveer had been on the job only seven years, two of which ended with her Stanford women's basketball team winning NCAA titles in 1990 and '92. The 1992-93 season was expected to provide a third national title because every starter from the '92 squad was returning.

The Cardinal, however, didn't win it all in '92. In fact, they didn't even return to the Final Four - instead reaching the Sweet 16 before having their 26-6 season end in disappointment.

The obvious question for VanDerveer that year was: What happened?

VanDerveer is used to those questions, and the criticism, whenever her team is eliminated early in the NCAA tournament. Such is the price of success. The Cardinal women haven't reached a Final Four since 1997, having been beaten in either the first or second round in five of the past six seasons. So despite the two NCAA championship banners that hang in the rafters, and the four other Final Four appearances, there always seems to be higher expectations surrounding Stanford, which will be making its 17th straight NCAA tournament appearance this week when the No. 6-seeded Cardinal (24-6) travel to Tempe, Ariz., to meet No. 11 Missouri (17-12) in the first round of the Midwest Regional on Saturday.

This is the first-ever postseason game against Missouri and only the third all-time. Stanford beat Missouri, 75-60, in a preseason game in 1988-89 and lost to the Tigers, 72-32, in the 1983-84 season - before VanDerveer arrived on the scene.

A first-round victory probably will match Stanford against No. 3-seeded Oklahoma (23-8). The top seed in the Midwest Regional is Tennessee.

So, the Cardinal have their work cut out for them.

"It's definitely not easy at all for any team," said Stanford junior guard Kelley Suminski. "It's something you have to work on throughout the season. Nothing is given to you. It's not a bad thing to be expected to go, but it's not a right, it's a privilege. We don't take it for granted. It's a great reward for working hard."

VanDerveer arrived at Stanford after successful stints at both Idaho and Ohio State, in which she had winning records in each of her seven seasons and made two NCAA appearances.

Her first losing season - and her only one to date - was her first year at Stanford. She accumulated a 27-29 mark over her first two years and expectations were limited.

VanDerveer won 27 games in 1987-88, sparking the current run of consecutive tournament appearances. Since then, she has never won fewer than 18 games and raised expectations to almost impossible heights.

"It's quite hard not to expect to go," said VanDerveer. "We have our challenges but nothing is automatic."

As an example, VanDerveer pointed to her Pac-10 championship team in 1998 that suffered a string of injuries - Kristin Folkl and Vanessa Nygaard both suffered torn ACLs on the same knee -- the in the final week of the season and were upset by 16th seed Harvard in the first round in front of a home crowd.

"The key is keeping players healthy," she said. "The one year we had all those injuries, and boom, we're out."

Stanford also lost in the first round the next year; though that team wasn't nearly as talented and needed four wins in its final five games to even qualify.

In the two years Stanford lost in the first round, the team played a combined 20 games against nationally-ranked opponents - a nearly impossible task for any team. The Cardinal went 10-10 in those games, including three wins over top five competition.

"We struggled," VanDerveer admitted. "We were 18-12 or something and I challenged them. I asked them if they wanted to be the first team not to go in 15 years. I challenged the senior leaders, and that's what Nicole is doing this year."

Nicole, of course, is senior Nicole Powell, the heart and soul of this year's Pac-10 championship team. Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini called her the best player to ever come out of Stanford and there are not many who would argue with her.

While Jennifer Azzi, who played between 1986-90, is credited for putting the women's program on the national map, it's Powell who assumed the responsibility of carrying on the tradition.

Powell has 48 career double-doubles and six career triple-doubles. She's only the fourth player in Pac-10 history to earn first team all-Pac-10 honors four times, and she's a two-time conference Player of the Year. And, oh yeah, she's a three-time All-American.

"When she has a double-double, that's like routine," said VanDerveer. "It points to how good she is, and what she is capable of doing."

The only thing Azzi has done that Powell hasn't is win a national title. But that's another example of just how hard it has become to maintain consistent success in women's basketball. Powell has the weight of the past 16 years bearing down on her shoulders.

"I think we do expect to go every year and would be devastated if we didn't," said VanDerveer. "When you put on the uniform you put on the tradition too. It wasn't always like that but it is now."

Tradition can be both a blessing and curse. As long as you continue the same level of success, you're part of the tradition. When expectations fall short, you're measured against past teams.

"Alumni are always coming back to practice with us and help us," said Suminski. "That just shows you what a great place this is. They take the time to come and see players they don't even know. That shows a lot of character. They are great role models for all of us, and they set a great example. It's very special to put on the uniform of those who came before us. I just hope I can fill their shoes."

While last year's stumbled again in the second round, Stanford did reach the West Regional semifinal in Suminski's freshman year, the Cardinal's best finish since that Final Four appearance in 1997.

"This place challenges you in every way," said Suminski. "I feel like I've earned the right to put on this uniform, and I do so with pride."

When Suminski gets ready for the season, in those long hours during the offseason spent out of the public eye, it's not the possibility of another NCAA appearance that keeps her motivated.

"Not to take anything away from the NCAA, but I imagine myself playing at Maples with the great crowds, and the great team wins," she said. "We don't talk about (the NCAA) in the preseason because there are so many other things we need to accomplish. Once we get closer and closer it becomes a main goal for everybody."

For VanDerveer, the challenge is to maintain the success she established when she first arrived in 1985. She's never lost her enthusiasm, even after reaching the top of her profession, which includes an Olympic gold medal from coaching the 1996 United States National Team to an unbeaten record. Team USA won all 60 games it played with VanDerveer as a coach.

"It never, with a capital 'N' gets boring," she said. "It's always exciting. There's always a challenge. You don't want to see people go but you're excited about bring people in, people who can help. I like the puzzle of it; putting the pieces together. I'm paid to coach basketball. What a great job."

VanDerveer's job now is to get her team back to the Final Four, a daunting task indeed since parity in the women's game leveled the playing field. When VanDerveer took over the Stanford program, only a handful of teams even had a chance of reaching the Final Four or winning a national title.

Now, with little girls all across the country playing basketball and looking forward to playing in college - not to mention the possibility of even competing as a pro - more and more college teams have reached the level that before was the sole domain of schools like Tennessee, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, Virginia and Stanford.

That makes VanDerveer's job all the more challenging. At 24-6, the Cardinal have their most losses since the 2000-01 team went 19-11. In order to finish 30-6, Stanford will have to win the national title.

Impossible, you say? Perhaps. But, that's what VanDerveer and her staff and her players strive for. It is Stanford's tradition.

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