Tara VanDerveer thought of her parents, of her past and present players, and of the fellow coaching legend whose milestone she passed.
No. 1 Stanford’s 104-61 victory over Pacific on Tuesday was the 1,099th of VanDerveer’s career, giving her the most wins in Division I women’s college basketball history.
“It’s just been a great journey,” VanDerveer said. “I really hope Pat Summitt is looking down and saying, ‘Good job, Tara. Keep it going.’ I loved coaching against Pat, and we miss her.”
VanDerveer passed the late Summitt, whose legendary career at Tennessee ended prematurely in 2012 after she was diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type. Summitt, who had 1,098 career wins, died in 2016.
VanDerveer, 67, began her college coaching career at Idaho in 1978, and she took over in 1985 at Stanford, where she has recorded 947 of her wins. She has won two NCAA titles, advanced to 11 other Final Fours, won or shared 23 Pac-12 regular-season titles and won 13 of the 19 league tournaments that have been held.