Accomplishments that long ago made women's coach Tara VanDerveer a slam-dunk to reach the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame were officially recognized in April when she was one of two women and eight men announced as the latest inductees.
The timing was awkward, coming as a celebratory moment the morning after Stanford's loss to Texas A&M in a Final Four semifinal. But the mood will be better during enshrinement events in August, when the focus will shift to VanDerveer's victories and honors.
VanDerveer, who took over at Stanford in 1985 and has won two national titles (1990 and 1992), is one of a handful of coaches with more than 800 victories (826). She has been selected as a national coach of the year six times, including in March by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. She was elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.
The other woman to reach the Naismith hall in Springfield, Mass., this year is former Georgia star Teresa Edwards, a five-time Olympian who was on the 1996 squad that VanDerveer coached to a gold medal and that held a 60-0 record through both preparatory play and the Games in Atlanta. In her Stanford career, VanDerveer's record is now 674-147, with nine Final Four appearances.
