Michael Voepel, ESPN.comJan 19, 2024, 11:56 PM ET
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Michael Voepel covers the WNBA, women’s college basketball, and other college sports for espnW. Voepel began covering women’s basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.
Stanford women’s coach Tara VanDerveer got her 1,202nd victory Friday, tying her with former Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski for the most college coaching wins in NCAA history.
VanDerveer’s No. 8 Cardinal beat Oregon 88-63 at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion despite losing star post player Cameron Brink to a knee injury in the first quarter. Brink, who leads Stanford in points, rebounds and blocked shots, left the court but came back to the bench in the first half. She did not play the rest of the game, finishing with 6 points.
Vanderveer said there was no official injury update on Brink, but the senior did give her coach a hug, lifting her off the ground, when the game was over as the Cardinal players celebrated the milestone.
“It’s a tribute to the great teams I’ve had, the great places I’ve worked,” VanDerveer told the Pac-12 Network. “It’s been really exciting because so many people have reached out to me. It’s great for women’s basketball that there’s a lot of attention. I work at a great place, and I have so much support.”
With Brink out most of the game, junior forward Kiki Iriafen led Stanford with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Iriafen said it was thrilling to be part of history with VanDerveer.
“Sometimes I can take it for granted because I see her every day,” Iriafen told ESPN. “But she’s really been someone who’s changed the game. So it’s an honor to play for her. Every day, I learn something from her.”
VanDerveer has a chance to become the all-time leader on Sunday, when Stanford, 16-2, is host to Oregon State at 5 p.m. ET. The Beavers won 71-64 at Cal on Friday to move to 15-2. The challenge Oregon State presents is what VanDerveer is most focused on, as Stanford looks to stay atop the Pac-12. The Cardinal are tied in first with Colorado at 5-1.
“I want to do a great job for our team,” VanDerveer said in the postgame press conference. “[The record] is a number, but it’s not the point of what I’m doing at all.”
VanDerveer, 70, is in her 38th season at Stanford, which has won three NCAA titles and 26 conference regular-season titles during her tenure. VanDerveer has been at the heart of it all except in 1995-1996 (one of Stanford’s 15 Final Four seasons), when she stepped away from the Cardinal for a season to coach the U.S. national team leading into the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
That success of that U.S. team helped pave the way for the launch of the WNBA in 1997 and started a run of seven consecutive Olympic gold medals for the American women.
VanDerveer won her first college game on Dec. 1, 1978, as coach at Idaho. Her 100th win came in 1983 at Ohio State. She took over at Stanford in 1985. VanDerveer hit 1,000 victories in February 2017. She passed the late Tennessee coach Pat Summitt for the women’s basketball record with her 1,099th win in December 2020.
Krzyzewski was 73-59 as coach at Army from 1975 to 1980, then took over at Duke. He was 1,129-309 with the Blue Devils, winning five national championships before retiring in 2022.
VanDerveer won her national championships in 1990, 1992 and 2021. She’s had 30 players drafted into the WNBA, including No. 1 picks Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike in 2012 and 2014.
VanDerveer is one of four coaches to win the NCAA tournament at least three times on the women’s side, along with Geno Auriemma (11), Summitt (8), and Kim Mulkey (4). The only coaches to do that on the men’s side are John Wooden (10), Krzyzewski (5), Adolph Rupp (4), Bob Knight (3), Roy Williams (3) and Jim Calhoun (3).
VanDerveer used to attend Knight’s practices when she was a player at Indiana in the 1970s. It was a very different era for women’s sports, which she reflected on Friday.
“We practiced at 7:30 at night because the [men’s team] went from 2 to 7,” VanDerveer said. “We had Hamburger Helper when we got home at 9:30 or 10 o’clock at night. We washed our own uniforms, we bought our own shoes, we drove vans. My coach was a graduate student.
“Just to see the experience they get now, I’m jealous in a way. But I would talk to my college teammates and say, ‘Someday, there’s going to be scholarships for girls.’ I just hope the young girls who get the opportunities [today] really appreciate all the things they get. My timing was horrible for playing, but it was very good for coaching. I was a head coach when I was 24 years old. I love coming to the gym. To experience this is more than I ever could have dreamed of.”
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