By Aaron Juarez
Stanford Sports Information
Stanford women’s basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer, one of just six women’s head coaches to win 800 games, was named one of 12 finalists to be considered for election to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Hall announced Friday in Los Angeles.
VanDerveer is joined on the list of finalists by Alvin Attles, Teresa Edwards, Maurice Cheeks, Herb Magee, Dick Motta, Chris Mullin, Hank Nichols, Dennis Rodman, Ralph Sampson, Jamaal Wilkes and Tex Winter.
The Hall’s Class of 2011 will be announced on Monday, April 4 at a news conference in Houston prior to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game. A finalist needs 18 of 24 votes from the Honors Committee for election into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The Class of 2011 will be enshrined in Springfield, Mass. on Aug. 12.
“I am very honored and humbled to be among the 12 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame,” VanDerveer said following the announcement Friday. “I am continually appreciative of the opportunities and support that I have received throughout my career from Stanford University, Ohio State University, the University of Idaho and USA Basketball. I am also grateful for the chances I’ve had to continue to work with amazing and wonderful student-athletes and players on both the collegiate and international levels, without who I would not be in the position I am in today.”
VanDerveer, in her 32nd season as a head coach, has compiled a record of 815-197 heading into Stanford’s contest at USC Friday night. She is one of just six women’s basketball head coaches to reach the 800-win mark, earning the milestone win on Dec. 22, 2010 with Stanford’s 100-45 victory at San Francisco.
Her storied career includes a pair of national championships at Stanford (1990 and ’92), eight Final Four appearances, 18 Pac-10 regular season titles, seven Pac-10 Tournament titles and 22 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.
VanDerveer has also made her mark on the international stage, highlighted by guiding the USA Basketball Women’s Olympic Team to an 8-0 record and the Olympic Gold Medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games. While taking a sabbatical from Stanford that season (1995-96), VanDerveer led the Olympic squad on a world tour prior to the Games in which the U.S. went 52-0. Combined with its perfect run of form in Atlanta, VanDerveer guided the U.S. team to a perfect 60-0 record in her one-year tenure as head coach.
She also led U.S. teams to gold medals at the 1991 World University Games, 1993 FIBA World Championship Qualifying Tournament and 1994 Goodwill Games, while guiding the U.S. to the bronze medal at the 1994 FIBA World Championships.
Overall, VanDerveer owns an 88-8 record over eight USA Basketball head-coaching assignments.
On the collegiate level, VanDerveer began her head coaching career in 1978 at the University of Idaho. In two years in Moscow, she went 42-14 and led the Vandals to the 1980 AIAW Tournament before taking the head job at Ohio State.
In Columbus, VanDerveer went 110-37 over five years, which included four 20-win seasons and multiple appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
Following the 1984-85 season in which she led the Buckeyes to a 28-3 record and the Elite Eight, VanDerveer came to Stanford, where she turned around the Cardinal program, winning 27 games and reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in just her third year. In her fifth year at the Cardinal helm, VanDerveer led the Cardinal to its first-ever women’s basketball NCAA title, as the team went 32-1 and finished the season with an 88-81 victory over Auburn in the national title game in Knoxville, Tenn.
VanDerveer has accumulated a 663-146 record at Stanford, where she is currently in her 25th year of guiding the Cardinal. Recently, she has led the Cardinal to two of the past three national title games and three straight Final Fours, all the while posting a record of 126-13 (.907) since the start of the 2007-08 season.
This season, VanDerveer has the Cardinal in the driver’s seat for the program’s 20th Pac-10 regular season title. Stanford, ranked third in both major national polls, sports an overall record of 22-2 and a perfect 13-0 mark in Pac-10 play heading into this weekend’s games at USC and No. 9/9 UCLA.