VanDerveer named WBCA Head Coach of the Year

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March 28, 2011

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STANFORD -- Tara VanDerveer was named the 2011 Russell AthleticWBCA NCAA Division I Head Coach of the Year, the Womens Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Monday. This is the first time that VanDerveer has been honored with the WBCAs top coaching honor. In addition to earning the national award, she has also collected the WBCA Region 8 Coach of the Year award for the fourth time in the past five years (2007, 2009-11). It is very humbling to be recognized by the WBCA and by my peers with this honor, VanDerveer said. I am very fortunate to get to work with such a smart, hard-working and dedicated team of coaches and players. The dedication that they bring every day both on and off the court is the reason for this programs success. It also marks the fourth time in her career that VanDerveer has been named national coach of the year. She was named Womens Basketball News Service Coach of the Year in 1988, Converse Coach of the Year in 1989 and James Naismith Coach of the Year after leading the Cardinal to its first national title in 1990. NEWS: Women's college basketball headlines
She has led Stanford to a pair of national titles in her career, reaching the peak in 1990 and 1992. The first of VanDerveers many highlights this season came at San Francisco on Dec. 22, when she became just the fifth Division I head coach to win 800 games after Stanfords 100-45 victory over the Dons. Over her 32-year head coaching career, which previously included stops at Idaho and Ohio State, VanDerveer has accumulated a career record of 825-197. Currently, she also has a record of 673-146 in her 25 seasons at the Stanford helm.REWIND: VanDerveer gets win No. 800, Stanford rolls over USF
In February, she was named one of 12 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The announcement of the members of the Halls Class of 2011 will be made in Houston on Monday, April 4. VanDerveer has guided Stanford to its fourth straight 30-win season in 2010-11, as the Cardinal is 32-2 heading into Monday nights Spokane Regional Final against 11th-seeded Gonzaga. The Cardinal, which earned the top seed in the Spokane Region, is gunning for its fourth straight Final Four appearance, and 10th overall, as it makes its 24th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
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VanDerveer has managed a Cardinal squad that faced nine eventual 2011 NCAA Tournament teams during its 11-game non-conference schedule prior to the New Year. The Cardinal went 9-2 over that challenging stretch, picking up wins against such teams as Rutgers, Gonzaga and Texas. At the end of December, the Cardinal produced a pair of statement-making victories, first routing then-No. 4 Xavier, 89-52, and ending No. 1 Connecticuts NCAA-record 90-game winning streak with a 71-59 win at Maples Pavilion on Dec. 30. The ride continued into the Pac-10 slate, as VanDerveer steered her squad towards the programs sixth perfect conference season. The Cardinals 18-0 record against its conference foes clinched the programs 20th Pac-10 regular season title, and 11th in a row, and two more wins in the conference tournament captured Stanfords eighth Pac-10 Tournament crown.For her accomplishments, VanDerveer captured the John R. Wooden Pac-10 Coach of the Year award, the 11th time that she has earned the conferences top coaching honor.
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VanDerveer and the Cardinal will attempt to book the programs 10th Final Four trip Monday night, when it takes on No. 11 Gonzaga at 6 p.m. PT at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Stanford Athletics media services

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