There’s a new all-time Div 1 wins leader in college hoops. Cardinal women’s basketball coach Tara VanDeveer officially passed former Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski’s career win total of 1,202 as her Stanford squad downed Oregon State 65-56 on Sunday, earning her the 1,203 victory of her collegiate career.
Junior Kiki Iriafen led the way for a short handed Stanford squad that was playing without star forward Cameron Brink, by dropping a career high 36 points and grabbing 12 boards. The team overcame a slow start to pull away late as it was evident that there were some nerves at play, playing in front of a capacity crowd of former Cardinal players, including WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike, and former NFL QB Andrew Luck.
With a chance at history, and knowing that the team had two upcoming road games on their schedule, the Stanford players wanted to ensure they gave their veteran head coach a proper celebration at home. With the win, Stanford moves to 17-2 (6-1 in Pac-12 play) on the season.
“I’m very appreciative of all the great players I’ve coached and the great places I’ve been and the attention this brought to women’s basketball,” VanDerveer said. “I’m not always really comfortable in the limelight, but I understand that that kind of goes with the job.”
Coach K, who held the record since 2019, was quick to offer his congratulations in a prepared statement after VanDerveer officially passed his hallowed mark.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment for Tara VanDerveer, who is already one of the most accomplished coaches in the history of basketball. This is yet another milestone to add to an amazing legacy,” Krzyzewski said. “More important than all the astounding numbers and career accomplishments, she’s positively impacted countless lives as a coach and a mentor. Tara remains a true guardian of our sport.”
The 70 year old bench boss has one of the most decorated basketball resumes on the planet with accolades that include a 2011 induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, 3 National Championships (1990, 1992, 2021), 13 Final Four appearances, 5 National Coach of the Year awards, an Olympic gold medal, Goodwill Games gold medal, World University Games gold medal, and now the sport’s all-time wins mark for a head coach.
Currently ranked 8th in the nation, Stanford will head down to Arizona next week for a pair of matchups with the Sun Devils (Friday, 8pm ET), and the Wildcats (Sunday, 2pm ET), before returning home for showdowns against USC and UCLA.
Photo: Don Feria. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.