The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 15 gold medals in the 18 tournaments they have participated in during the past 84 years, while the women have won 8 gold medals in the 10 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 44 years. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with UCSD head coach Heidi VanDerveer about her older sister Tara winning a pair of NCAA titles in the early 1990s and a gold medal in 1996. Today is Tara’s birthday so let us be the 1st to wish her a happy 1!
When Tara was shooting baskets at your neighbor’s house growing up your father allegedly told her, “Basketball will not take you anywhere: come inside and do your algebra”, and when Stanford tried to hire her away from Ohio State in 1985 he told her that she was crazy to take the job and that, “You will be unemployed and coming home to live with us in 3 months”: what kind of relationship did they have, and did he finally come around? Our parents have always been supportive of all of us. At the time you want something better for your children so my dad was living in the reality that there were very few opportunities for women and thought that she would be better off as a lawyer. Ohio State was on the tipping point of competing for titles year in and year out while Stanford was a lower-tier program. He supported us wholeheartedly.
She ended up taking the job at Stanford and won 2 NCAA titles during her 1st 7 years on the Farm (in 1990 and 1992): what did it mean to her to win a pair of titles? She was happier for the players who had taken a chance on her, specifically Jennifer Azzi. You have to share your vision with your players and have them buy into it: it is gratifying when it actually becomes a reality.
In 1995 she began a year-long sabbatical as head coach of team USA and went 52-0 in pre-Olympic play against various college/national teams leading up to the 1996 Olympics: what did it mean to her to win a gold medal, and where do you think that team ranks among the greatest in the history of the sport? They did not win a gold medal in 1992 so there was a little pressure to win 1 in 1996. USA Basketball realized what they had to do so she absorbed that pressure and was focused on the task at hand every single day, which allowed her to be so successful. The game has evolved so it is hard to compare the greatest of all-time but for their time they were the best. I think a player like 5-time Olympian Teresa Edwards just had amazing talent that would translate to today.
In the 1998 NCAA tourney she had a 4-PT home loss to #16-seed Harvard: was she embarrassed to become the 1st #1 seed to lose to a #16 seed or was it simply a case of bad timing with 2 star players (Kristin Folkl/Vanessa Nygaard) both missing the game after tearing their left knee ACLs the previous week? She probably did take it personally even though she lost her 2 best players. It was a perfect storm in that Harvard was better than a #16 seed: I recruited Allison Feaster when I was at South Carolina and just look at her almost 2-decades-long pro career. I would not say “embarrassed” but rather disappointed at what could have been. Kristin was 1 of the best players in the country: I later coached her in the WNBA. Vanessa also made the WNBA. It also made her stronger/better and she realized that you can only control what you can control.
In the 2009 NCAA tourney Jayne Appel had 16 REB and scored a school-record 46 PTS (which remains the 3rd-highest point total in NCAA tourney history), while outscoring the entire Iowa State team by herself in the 1st half (27-25): was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot she put up seemed to go in because she was “in the zone”? That might have been part of it: I was at that game. Jayne was making shots right at the rim: it was like a Mikan layup drill! Stanford had really good shooters so they spread Iowa State out and there was no double-teaming the 6’4” Jayne at the rim.
In the 2010 NCAA tourney title game the Cardinal set a record for fewest FTs attempted in an NCAA tourney game with 4 in a 6-PT loss to UConn: were the Huskies just that good or were the refs just that…less than good? Every game has a winner and loser and once you get to the Final 4 anyone can win it. That being said, 4 FTs is not a lot.
She made 5 straight Final 4s from 2008-2012 and 12 straight Sweet 16s from 2008-2019: has it reached a point where your family refuses to make any special plans in March because you know that you will always be busy watching your sister work her magic, and how did everyone feel after the NCAA tourney got canceled last March due to the coronavirus? When you look at their run it has only been bettered by UConn. Our mom is spoiled and lives in Colorado and cheers for the Buffs…unless they play Stanford. We would invite her to a Sweet 16 or Elite 8 but she would decline because she wanted to hold out for the Final 4! It was disappointing for everyone to have the tourney canceled last March, especially the top seeds: there were probably 8-10 teams who could have won it this year. Just the way it happened was wild: you are playing 1 minute and then going home the next minute. That has not set in yet and probably never will for Tara and another 8-10 elite teams.
She is a 4-time national COY who was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002 and was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2011: what makes her such a great coach, and where do those rank among the highlights of her career? Her ability to evolve over the decades. She has always had a vision/plan, both at Stanford and with team USA, and the only reason it does not work is if you opponent has a better team/plan. She gets a lot of honors and is probably in 10 Halls of Fame. When you are coaching players you get into a rhythm but after they graduate she looks back and see how their success carried over into their lives. Just look at what all of her assistant coaches have done.
You are part of her amazing coaching tree, which includes Jennifer Azzi/Charmin Smith/Charli Turner Thorne: what makes her such a good mentor, and how proud is she of the success of all her former players/assistants? She is extremely proud. Our basketball community is not very big so to have her group be so successful is amazing. As a mentor she gives you a job description but if there are some things that you are really good at then she will let you do those things. If there are things you are not as good at then she will help you and then give you other challenges later on. Some people get pigeonholed into being great at coaching defense or recruiting but the more versatile you are the better off you will be.
In 2017 she joined Pat Summitt/Mike Krzyzewski as the only D-1 coaches with 1000 career wins and she is currently 4 wins away from passing Summitt as the winningest women’s coach ever: when people look back on her career, how do you think that she should be remembered the most? Women’s basketball has evolved so much over the past 40 years. I worked for a great coach in Pat and there have been so many other great coaches like Jody Conradt/Cathy Rush. She just wants the game to continue to grow and she loves supporting the game via clinics or picking up the phone. Cal is her archrival yet she will be a guest speaker for Charmin at postgame booster club events: Nick Saban would never do that for Auburn! There will be a debate between her/Pat/Geno Auriemma but she does not care about that. She worked with a lot of great players/coaches and there is a unique environment at Stanford where they have been great for 30+ years.