A large (230K) photo of Tara
Named the third head women's varsity basketball coach in Stanford history by then-Director of Athletics Andy Geiger May 7, 1985, VanDerveer has guided the Cardinal to a 221-59 overall record (.789) in her first nine seasons on The Farm. She is hoping for the same level of achievement in the upcoming 1994-95 season.
Tara and her staff recruited what many impartial observers called the best recruiting classes nationally in 1987-88 and in 1988-89. Then the 1989-90 Stanford class produced what many observers felt was the top freshman--6-3 center Val Whiting--in the land. Whiting recently graduated as a two-time consensus First Team All-American. That class also produced 5-6 point-guard Molly Goodenbour--the `91-'92 Most Outstanding Player at both the NCAA West Regional and the Final Four. The 1991-92 recruiting class was considered one of the very top nationally as well--producing, among others, `92 Final Four All-Tournament member Rachel Hemmer, a 6-3 power forward. The class of 1992-93 produced two of the five-member Pac-10 All-Freshman Team in point-guard Jamila Wideman and forward Kate Starbird. And now the six-member incoming class of 1993-94 is considered one of the top two recruiting classes by every publication for next season.
Tara and her staff came to Stanford with excellent reputations and coaching skills. The fruits of her labor have been clearly evident the last seven years. In nine years on The Farm, her records have jumped from 13-15, to 14-14, then to 27-5 in 1987-88, to 28-3 in 1988-89, to 32-1 with a national title in 1989-90, to 26-6 in 1990-91 with a team that somewhat unexpectedly made it back to the Final Four, to 30-3 in 1991-92 with a team that unexpectedly won a second national title, to 26-6 in 1992-93, and to 25-6 this past season (`93-'94).
In a six-year period, VanDerveer was named winner of the Northern California Women's Intercollegiate Coach of the Year five times. Tara has earned this award in `88, `89, `90, `92, and `93. Other honors include being named the 1987-88 National Coach of the Year by the the Women's Basketball News Service, and both the Pac-10 Coach of the Year and the Converse National Coach of the year for the 1988-89 season.
Remarkably, Stanford's record in post-season play during the past five seasons is a combined 17-3.
The summer of 1993, Tara coached the U.S. National "A" Team at the World Qualifying Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil (June 26-July 4) to a 6-1 record and a gold medal (beating host Brazil in the gold medal game in an extremely hostile environment). That 12-player team included three former Stanford players--Jennifer Azzi, Katy Steding, and Molly Goodenbour.
This past summer, Tara was again been named to lead the U.S. National "A" Team-- USA won the bronze in the FIBA World Championship Games in Sydney, Australia and brought home the gold from the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia . Her assistant coaches were Nancy Darsch of Ohio State, Charlene Curtis of Temple, and Ceal Barry of Colorado.
Of 54 invited players to try out for the 1994 U.S. National Teams, five were from Stanford. They included guards Jennifer Azzi '90, Molly Goodenbour `93, and Christy Hedgepeth `94, and centers Val Whiting `93, and (senior to be) Anita Kaplan `95. Forward Katy Steding `90 would have been invited except that she tore an interior cruciate ligament in her knee a short time ago while playing in Spain.
The 40-year-old Boston native, who grew up in upstate New York, was named Big Ten Coach-of-the-Year in her final two years (1983-84 and 1984-85) at Ohio State.
Her job at Stanford, however, is not her first coaching venture into the western part of the United States. Following two years of graduate school at Ohio State, she accepted the head coaching position at the University of Idaho in Moscow. In her two years there (1978-80), she brought unprecedented success to Vandal women's basketball.
VanDerveer was a `75 graduate of Indiana University, where she was a Dean's List scholar for three years, majoring in sociology. As an athlete at Indiana, VanDerveer held one of the starting guard positions for three years on the women's basketball team.
A large (314K) photo of the Stanford coaching staff.
Year School Record Pct. Post-Season Tourney 1978-79 Idaho 17- 8 .680 ---- 1979-80 Idaho 25- 6 .806 AIAW 1980-81 Ohio State 17-15 .531 ---- 1981-82 Ohio State 20- 7 .741 ---- 1982-83 Ohio State 23- 5 .821 ---- 1983-84 Ohio State 22- 7 .759 NCAA 1984-85 Ohio State 28- 3 .903 NCAA Round of 8 1985-86 Stanford 13-15 .464 ---- 1986-87 Stanford 14-14 .500 ---- 1987-88 Stanford 27- 5 .844 NCAA Round of 16 1988-89 Stanford 28- 3 .903 NCAA Round of 8 1989-90 Stanford 32- 1 .970 NCAA CHAMPIONS 1990-91 Stanford 26- 6 .813 NCAA Final Four 1991-92 Stanford 30- 3 .909 NCAA CHAMPIONS 1992-93 Stanford 26- 6 .813 NCAA Round of 16 1993-94 Stanford 25- 6 .806 NCAA Round of 8 Total 16 years 373-110 .772 10 appearances at Idaho 2 years 42-14 .750 1 appearance Ohio St. 5 years 110-37 .748 2 appearances Stanford 9 years 221-59 .789 7 appearances
A more detailed history of Stanford women's basketball, including year by year season highlights for the last seven seasons.
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