“The GOAT says goodbye.”
So read Stanford’s official press release announcing the retirement of legendary women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer.
VanDerveer is retiring after 38 seasons as the head coach of the Cardinal and 45 seasons as a head coach at the Division I level. The basketball icon leaves the game with 1,216 career wins — the most by any coach in NCAA history.
VanDerveer, 70, is hanging it up after No. 2 seed Stanford fell to No. 3 seed NC State in the Sweet 16 in March. She led the Cardinal to a national championship as recently as 2021, bringing three titles to Stanford in her tenure (1990, 1992).
In her Hall of Fame career, VanDerveer led Stanford to 13 Final Fours, 27 Pac-12 regular season titles, and 15 Pac-12 Tournament titles.
She also collected a long list of accolades. She was voted National Coach of the Year five times and Pac-12 Coach of the Year 11 times. Beyond college basketball, she also led the U.S. women’s national team to a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
For more information on VanDerveer’s retirement and everlasting impact on women’s college basketball, The Sporting News has you covered below.
Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer announces retirement
VanDerveer announced her retirement through a press release on Stanford’s website.
“Basketball is the greatest group project there is and I am so incredibly thankful for every person who has supported me and our teams throughout my coaching career,” VanDerveer said.
“I’ve been spoiled to coach the best and brightest at one of the world’s foremost institutions for nearly four decades. Coupled with my time at Ohio State and Idaho, and as head coach of the United States National Team, it has been an unforgettable ride.
“The joy for me was in the journey of each season, seeing a group of young women work hard for each other and form an unbreakable bond. Winning was a byproduct. I’ve loved the game of basketball since I was a little girl, and it has given me so much throughout my life. I hope I’ve been able to give at least a little bit back,” she wrote in the official statement.
Stanford also noted that VanDerveer will continue to work with the university and athletics department in an “advisory capacity.”
