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College basketball coaching legend Tara VanDerveer is calling it a career.
VanDerveer announced her retirement on April 9, after amassing 1,216 victories — which more NCAA college basketball wins than any coach in history — across 45 seasons coaching women’s college hoops (including the last 38 seasons at Stanford).
While VanDerveer ends her iconic career as college basketball’s winningest coach, UConn’s Geno Auriemma currently has 1,213 career wins.
Therefore, Auriemma needs just four victories next season to surpass VanDerveer as the NCAA’s all-time wins leader.
Although Auriemma is more focused on giving VanDerveer her flowers right now.
Auriemma made a statement on VanDerveer’s retirement through an X post made by UConn women’s hoops insider Maggie Vanoni, posted on April 10.
In Vanoni’s post, Auriemma said, “Obviously, it’s a monumental day in women’s basketball, and in basketball in general. When you’ve coached for this extended period of time and you’ve accomplished what Tara’a accomplished, it has an incredible effect on the basketball community. The number of wins, the national championships, the Hall of Fame. She’s had an incredible career and she’s left a great impact on the sport. It’s been exciting to compete against her all these years. Congratulations to Tara, and I’m sure she’ll enjoy this next phase of her life.”
VanDerveer’s Remarkable Career Accomplishments
Auriemma is right in saying that VanDerveer has had an incredible career.
In addition to being college basketball’s winningest coach, VanDerveer has also won three NCAA national championships with Stanford (in 1990, 1992 and 2021), won an Olympic gold medal for coaching Team USA women’s basketball at the 1996 Olympic Games, is a five-time National Coach of the Year, and an 18-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
VanDerveer began her head coaching career in 1978 at Idaho, when she was just 25 years old.
VanDerveer then went to Ohio State in 1980, before taking her coaching talents to Stanford in 1985 — where she has since remained.
If her series of viral TikTok dances with Stanford star Cameron Brink are any indication, VanDerveer is clearly beloved among her players.
VanDerveer doesn’t need the NCAA’s all-time wins record to be considered a legendary coach. Which is good, because she won’t be holding that record for long.
Auriemma: “I’ll Never Be No. 1 in Wins”
Given that UConn‘s Geno Auriemma is only four wins away from overtaking VanDerveer for most NCAA coaching wins, it feels inevitable that he’ll do so.
Although Auriemma doesn’t seem keen to coach for much longer.
According to a February 8 article from Just Women’s Sports, Auriemma said, “I could probably say, with a great deal of certainty, that I’ll never be No. 1 in wins, I don’t think that will happen. And I’m still going to enjoy my wine and I’m going to sleep good tonight.”
Yet, when he said that, Auriemma surely didn’t expect VanDerveer to retire when she did.
Given that his star pupil Paige Bueckers is returning to UConn next season, Auriemma will surely keep coaching for at least one more year.
It’s safe to assume that UConn will win more than three games next season. Therefore, Auriemma’s will, in fact, become No. 1 in wins.
And he can still enjoy his wine.
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