Tara VanDerveer Position: Head Coach Experience: 28th season overall Alma Mater: Indiana, 1975

May 1985. The Stanford Cardinal had just wrapped up a 9-19 campaign while missing the postseason for the third straight year.

The rebuilding task would be assigned to Tara VanDerveer, a then-rising star in the coaching ranks who had spent the previous five yeas leading Ohio State to national prominence after two successful seasons at Idaho.

Fast forward to April 2007, as the Stanford Cardinal now boasts two national championships, 20 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and 16 Pac-10 titles.

Once a program that found itself in desperate need of a jump start, Stanford women's basketball has become synonymous with success. And the credit goes to VanDerveer, who has established herself as one of the top coaches in the history of both collegiate and international women's basketball.

Regarded in the profession as one of the most well-respected and dynamic coaches in the country, VanDerveer's enormous contributions to the sport were recognized in April 2002, as she was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn.

An ambassador for both Stanford University and the sport of college basketball, VanDerveer has enjoyed an unprecedented level of success through an energetic and positive approach to the game. VanDerveer, an eight-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year honoree, has accumulated an impressive 689-184 (.789) record in her 28 years of collegiate coaching. VanDerveer enters the 2007-08 campaign with the fourth-highest career winning percentage among active Division I women's basketball coaches and has won two NCAA Championships and 18 conference titles.

The Cardinal finished 29-5 overall last year, claiming both the Pac-10 regular season and conference titles while advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the 20th consecutive season and 21st overall. Despite losing multiple key starters to injury, Stanford remained among the top-10 for most of the year and VanDerveer was honored as the 2007 Russell Athletic/WBCA Regional Coach of the Year.

Currently in her 22nd year as the head coach of the Stanford women's basketball program, she owns a sparkling 537-133 (.801) record. During her tenure on The Farm, she has led the Cardinal to two NCAA Championships, five NCAA Final Four appearances, 15 Pac-10 titles and 19 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.

VanDerveer's contributions to the sport of women's basketball reach far outside the collegiate world. She became internationally known in 1996 when she guided the United States Olympic Women's Basketball Team to the gold medal in Atlanta. VanDerveer led the National/Olympic team, which included Stanford products Jennifer Azzi and Katy Steding, to an incredible 60-0 record from 1995-1996. Overall, VanDerveer has compiled an 88-8 (.917) record, including four gold medals, in eight head coaching stints with USA Basketball.

The coaching great paved the way for many more Stanford milestones in October 2006 by signing a six-year contract extension that will keep her on The Farm through the 2011-12 campaign.

VanDerveer at Stanford
During the last three decades, VanDerveer's philosophy and teaching methods have helped Stanford women's basketball maintain a level of success that has served as a barometer for all other programs. That success has paved the way for both program milestones and individual achievement.

VanDerveer, who was named the third women's basketball coach in Stanford University history on May 7, 1985, has guided the Cardinal to a 537-133 record in 21 seasons, including a 305-55 record in regular season Pac-10 play.

Under her leadership, Stanford has captured two NCAA Titles and made five Final Four appearances. Additionally, her teams have reached the Elite Eight 10 times and the Sweet 16 on 13 occasions. VanDerveer's teams are 47-19 (.712) in NCAA Tournament play. With a 32-3 record in 2004-05, the Cardinal has won 30 or more games six times and 20 or more games 17 times under VanDerveer's guidance.

VanDerveer's teams have also compiled a 286-31 (.902) home record during her tenure, and with a 13-0 mark in 2004-05, have posted seven perfect seasons at Maples Pavilion.

Stanford teams have been dominant in both the Pac-10 and nationally, as evident by VanDerveer's numerous awards. She is a three-time National Coach of the Year (1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90), a four-time District Coach of the Year (1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90. 2006-07), and has been named Pac-10 Coach of the Year eight times (1988-89, 1989-90, 1994-95, 1996-97, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2004-05, 2005-06). Additionally, VanDerveer earned Northern California Women's Intercollegiate Coach of the Year honors five times in a six-year span in the late 80's and early 90's (1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1991-92, 1992-93).

Perhaps one of VanDerveer's most notable attributes is her ability to connect with student-athletes and adapt to the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. Considered one of the nation's premier recruiters, VanDerveer and her staff routinely bring top classes to The Farm. The Stanford staff brought in the likes of Jennifer Azzi and Kate Starbird, both of whom won women's basketball's highest individual honor - the James Naismith National Player of the Year Award (Azzi 1989-90; Starbird 1996-97) - as well as First-Team Kodak All-Americans Candice Wiggins (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07), Nicole Powell (2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04), Kristin Folkl (1997-98), Sonja Henning (1990-91) and Val Whiting (1991-92, 1992-93). Overall, VanDerveer has guided her players to two Naismith Player of the Year honors, 14 Kodak First-Team All-America honors, 11 Pac-10 Player of the Year awards, 42 First-Team All-Pac-10 selections and 32 appointments to USA Basketball teams.

VanDerveer's alumnae have also made their mark on the professional level in both the WNBA and the ABL. In 2001, Stanford had a league-high 10 players on WNBA rosters. That dominating trend stretches back to 1996, when Stanford had nine players on opening day rosters in the ABL's inaugural season, the most of any institution. Last year, Brooke Smith and Kristen Newlin became Stanford's first WNBA selections since Nicole Powell in 2004.

NCAA Champions
VanDerveer earned her first NCAA Championship in 1989-90, after the Cardinal won its first 20 games en route to a 32-1 overall mark. Stanford set more than 100 school, Pac-10 and NCAA postseason records during that campaign. After defeating Mississippi and Arkansas in the NCAA West Regional at Maples Pavilion, the Cardinal continued to roll with a 75-66 win over Virginia in the semifinals and an 88-81 victory over Auburn in the final to capture its first-ever NCAA title.

The Cardinal earned its second championship in 1991-92, despite the loss of three First-Team All-Pac-10 players (Sonja Henning, Trisha Stevens and Julie Zeilstra) from the previous season. The Cardinal won its first 10 games, finished 15-3 in conference play to win its fourth straight Pac-10 title, and went into the NCAA Tournament on an upswing behind the play of Kodak First-Team All-American Val Whiting. Stanford defeated Western Kentucky, 78-62, in the championship game to end the season with its second national title in three years and a 30-3 record.

Prior to Stanford
Prior to her arrival at Stanford, VanDerveer led Ohio State to national prominence from 1980-85, as the Buckeyes went 110-37 (.748) overall and 55-5 (.917) in the Big Ten during her tenure.

During that time, the Buckeyes won four Big Ten Championships (1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85), compiled four consecutive 20-win seasons and made three NCAA Tournament appearances (1981-82, 1983-84, 1984-85). In 1984-85, Ohio State finished seventh in the national rankings and fell to eventual national champion Old Dominion by four points in the East Regional Final. She was twice named Big Ten Coach of the Year (1983-84, 1984-85) during her tenure in Columbus.

Before Ohio State, VanDerveer served as head coach at the University of Idaho. In two seasons in Moscow (1978-79, 1979-80), she brought unprecedented success to Vandal women's basketball. The Vandals went 42-14 in her two seasons and advanced to the AIAW Tournament (predecessor to the NCAA Tournament) in 1980.

Personal
VanDerveer is a 1975 graduate of Indiana University, where she was a Dean's List scholar for three years and a sociology major. While at Indiana, VanDerveer held one of the starting guard positions for three years on the women's basketball team. For her efforts at Indiana and her accomplishments after leaving the Hoosiers, VanDerveer was inducted into the Indiana University Hall of Fame in 1995.

In addition to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and Indiana University Hall of Fame, VanDerveer has also been inducted into the Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame and the Greater Buffalo Hall of Fame.

VanDerveer, a Boston native who grew up in upstate New York, is also a published author. Her book Shooting From The Outside, which chronicled her 1996 Olympic and National Team experience, was released in September 1997.

VanDerveer, an avid piano player in her spare time, was born June 26, 1953.

VanDerveer and USA Basketball
A veteran international coach, VanDerveer had served as head coach of seven previous USA Basketball teams before earning the prestigious job as the 1995-96 U.S. National Team and 1996 U.S. Olympic Team head coach on April 13, 1995.

The 1995-96 National Team posted a record of 52-0 before Olympic competition. At the XXVI Olympiad in Atlanta, VanDerveer's team went 8-0, including a 111-87 defeat of Brazil in the final to capture the gold medal. The gold medal by VanDerveer's team was the third in five Olympic competitions for U.S. women.

Prior to Atlanta, VanDerveer led the team to a perfect 52-0 record during a tour of the globe in 1995 and 1996, including a 20-0 mark against U.S. collegiate opposition. Coupled with the performance in Atlanta, VanDerveer finished her one-year appointment with an amazing 60-0 record.

For those efforts, VanDerveer was honored as the 1996 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year. She was also selected as the 1996 USOC Elite Basketball Coach of the Year.

Prior to coaching the National Team, VanDerveer directed the 1994 USA Goodwill Games Team to a 4-0 record and the gold medal in St. Petersburg, Russia. Also in 1994, she led the USA World Championship Team to the bronze medal and a tournament-best record of 7-1 in Australia. One year earlier, VanDerveer helped the United States earn its FIBA World Championship berth by coaching the team to a gold medal at the 1993 World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

In 1991, VanDerveer's USA World University Games team posted an 8-0 record and won the gold medal in Sheffield, England. VanDerveer also coached the 1990 USA Select Team and the 1986 U.S. Olympic Festival East Team.

Year-by-Year with Tara VanDerveer

TOTALS
Career: 689-184 (28 seasons)
at Stanford: 537-133 (21 seasons)
at Ohio State: 110-37 (5 seasons)
at Idaho: 42-14 (2 seasons)