Stanford women's basketball honored legendary coach Tara VanDerveer on Sunday by naming the court at Maples Pavilion after her. Tara VanDerveer Court was unveiled ahead of the team's game against Gonzaga.
VanDerveer wore the iconic custom jacket Nike gave her last season when she became the winningest coach in NCAA history by surpassing the 2,202 mark previously set by former Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. VanDerveer retired earlier this year with a total of 1,216 victories.
For the first time, welcome to Tara VanDerveer Court 👏#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/FzMSQvGwE1
— Stanford WBB 🌲🏀 (@StanfordWBB) November 10, 2024
Stanford also celebrated Sunday with bobbleheads and 1,203 shirt giveaways for fans in attendance.
VanDerveer's wins included 15 Pac-12 Tournament championships, 14 Final Four appearances and three national championships. To put her success into perspective, Stanford has made every NCAA Tournament since 1988, and VanDerveer retired with more career wins to her name than 355 of the country's 360 Division I programs.
Despite her coaching career coming to a close, VanDeveer has not entirely walked away from the hardwood. She will be teaching a basketball class at Stanford starting in January.
This is an interesting season for the Cardinal, as they are playing their first season without VanDerveer in nearly 40 years, and are starting their journey in the ACC. Longtime associate head coach Kate Paye took over a roster that did not return any double-digit scorers from last season, but so far the team is off to a solid start. Stanford started off the 2024-25 campaign with a 107-43 win over Le Moyne then beat Washington State 94-65 on Thursday.
It's definitely a new era for the Cardinal, but Paye has not lowered the expectations for the program. Now, VanDerveer's name is etched onto the court and along for the ride.
