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Stanford’s women’s basketball head coach Tara VanDerveer became the winningest college basketball coach in NCAA history Sunday when she led her team to victory for the 1,203th time.
Since 2020, VanDerveer has held the title of the winningest coach for women’s college basketball, but now that she has surpassed former Duke University men’s basketball Coach K., who has 1,202 victories under his belt.
“I’m very appreciative of the great players I’ve coached and the great places I’ve been and the attention that it’s brought to women’s basketball,” VanDerveer told members of her record-breaking game. “I’m not always really comfortable in the limelight, but I understand that that kind of goes with the job.”
At 2 p.m. in the Maples Pavilion, the Cardinals beat the Oregon State Beavers 65-56, cementing VanDerveer’s coaching legacy. Stanford did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
VanDerveer joined Stanford in 1985, leading the team to three NCAA Championships. She is a 17-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
VanDerveer is known for her “energetic and positive” approach to coaching. In a 2020 interview with ESPN, Golden State Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr described her style as poised and knowledgeable.
“She’s understated, but she’s clearly in charge,” Kerr said. “When you’re in the room with her, you feel like, ‘OK, she’s the boss.’”
VanDerveer has always been quick to try new strategies, helping pave the way for how the game is played today. When the NCAA adopted the 3-point line in college basketball in 1987, VanDerveer immediately got her players practicing from beyond the arc. The following season, her team attempted triple the number of 3-point shots when compared to the NCAA average.
“Compared to other coaches, (she) really saw it as a weapon and an opportunity and decided ‘this is gonna be a game changer,’ which I think was bold of her,” women’s sports advocate and content creator Audrey DeVaughn said.
Stanford Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer during Stanford’s 82-73 win against the Connecticut Huskies in the 2008 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Final Four semifinal game at the St. Pete Times Forum Arena in Tampa Bay, FL.
In December, VanDerveer appeared oblivious to the fact that she was approaching the milestone while talking to reporters, stating that she doesn’t keep track of her wins, the Associated Press reported.
The Stanford coach of over four decades is credited with propelling several basketball stars into their professional careers, including four-time Women’s Basketball Coaches Association All-American Candice Wiggins and WNBA superstar sisters Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike.
VanDerveer is also known for developing a women’s “coaching pipeline” by exclusively hiring women staff and helping her former staff and players to become head coaches, the Mercury News reported.
“She’s used a lot in her role to uplift other women,” DeVaughn said. “Throughout her whole career, she’s been advocating for women.”
In 1996, VanDerveer took one year off from Stanford to serve as the USA Basketball Women’s National Team’s coach in the Summer Olympics. The team won gold, helping to popularize and legitimize women’s basketball as a serious sport in the United States. VanDerveer authored a novel about the win called Shooting From the Outside, and her team was the subject of a 2022 ESPN 30 for 30 documentary. She has been committed to Stanford since.
DeVaughn emphasized the importance of VanDerveer’s new record for women’s basketball.
“The achievement in itself is huge, and it’s not just because she’s a woman, but the fact that she is a woman — I think it’s just even more impactful for the game, especially at a time where it feels like women’s basketball and women’s college basketball is hitting this inflection point,” DeVaughn said.
NCAA Division I women’s basketball viewership broke multiple records last season, according to ESPN.
The ball for Coach Tara VanDerveer’s 800th career win celebration after Stanford’s game against Arizona State at Maples Pavilion on Jan. 8, 2011. Stanford won 82-35.
Before her coaching career, VanDerveer played for Indiana University. Her first experience with coaching was when she helped run her sister’s high school basketball team.
“What I really liked actually was the fact that I love my sister, and it really kind of reminded me that everyone is someone’s sister,” she said in 2011. “As crazy as you can be sometimes in basketball, you kind of have to remember that they’re kids.”
Her sister, Heidi, is now the head coach for the University of California San Diego women’s basketball program.
VanDerveer was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.
Speaking to the press after the game Sunday, VanDerveer said that she hopes to build on the milestone and continue to get better.