She Keeps Them Going : VanDerveer Makes Sure That Stanford Women Are Driven

Tara VanDerveer was reflecting on the past the other day, which she seldom does since there is always the present to consider.

Such as:

Watching basketball.

Scouting basketball.

Coaching basketball.

So why bother taking a timeout?

Even VanDerveer’s mother, Rita, knew she was wasting her time one particular Christmas vacation. Huddled in front of the television set were the VanDerveer sisters--Tara, the head coach of the women’s team at Stanford, and Heidi, an assistant at South Carolina.

“My mother said, ‘Can we just have one day where we don’t have to break down the video, frame by frame, and make recruiting phone calls?’ ” Tara said. “Even my dad thought we were a little much.”

VanDerveer shrugged.

“I’m an all-or-nothing person,” she says. “One day I’ll just stop and I won’t do it anymore.”

Mind you, VanDerveer isn’t thinking of leaving Stanford anytime soon. She figures to stay at least for the duration of redshirt freshman Bobbie Kelsey’s Cardinal career.

“I feel a commitment there, so I’m good for at least another five years,” said VanDerveer, in her seventh season at Stanford.

But the job at Palo Alto isn’t complete yet, despite Stanford’s NCAA championship two seasons ago and another Final Four appearance last season. For VanDerveer, it’s important to maintain the Cardinal’s level of success.

And to understand that success, it helps to realize that there had been none before her arrival. This was pre-Jennifer Azzi and pre-Sonja Henning.

The Cardinal was not just mired in mediocrity--it would have liked a mediocre season. VanDerveer’s predecessor, Doty McCrea had consecutive seasons of 5-23 and 9-19. That’s when Andy Geiger, then Stanford’s athletic director, started making his list of possible replacements, and Ohio State’s Coach, Tara VanDerveer, was at the top.

Geiger, always a strong advocate of women’s collegiate sports, wanted a first-rate basketball program at Stanford and felt VanDerveer could best carry out his vision.

“I want to build a superb sports program in everything we do, but I thought it would be very do-able in women’s basketball at Stanford,” says Geiger, now the athletic director at Maryland, whose women’s basketball team was ranked No. 1 for several weeks this season.

That, however, meant leaving the comfort zone at Columbus. VanDerveer’s teams had won four Big Ten championships in five years, put together four consecutive 20-victory seasons and came within one game of the Final Four in 1984-85. Now she was thinking about leaving that veteran-laden team.

The decision didn’t play well in many quarters. VanDerveer’s dad, Dunbar, told her she was crazy and said his daughter would be unemployed in three months.

“It was something to prove to myself,” said VanDerveer. “People said to me, ‘Well, you’re going to go to Stanford and get buried.’ Athletic directors called me up and said, ‘What are you doing? You’re crazy.’ ”

So, her family and colleagues weren’t very supportive. Surely VanDerveer’s friends understood, right?

Guess again.

“I was shocked she took the job,” said Stanford assistant Amy Tucker, who was with VanDerveer at Ohio State. “We were 28-3, one game away from the Final Four and had a great team coming back. We had the freshman of the year in the Big Ten, who went on to become a two-time All-American. We had everything going for us.

“We said, ‘Why are you doing this?’ She told us she really believed that Stanford could be a great program.

“I didn’t buy it then. But I do believe Tara has great vision. Whenever she has said something can be or something will be, it’s come true.”

VanDerveer always had an eye on Stanford, knowing it could eventually have a successful women’s program. She met Geiger and his wife and liked them. She liked the campus.

But making the decision was painful.

“I was literally just having a breakdown,” VanDerveer said. “Andy told me to take some more time. I was just sitting out there in Columbus by a river and damn if this person doesn’t come jogging by wearing a Stanford sweat shirt.

“I thought, ‘Why, at this time would this person come by?’ ”

So off VanDerveer went to Stanford, with Tucker and another Buckeye assistant, Julie Plank. It was time to rebuild another program. VanDerveer, as always, was optimistic despite the team’s poor record.

Then came the first few games.

The Cardinal went 13-15. Tucker went recruiting.

Season No. 2 wasn’t much better as Stanford was 14-14. And VanDerveer made a proclamation.

“I vowed never to do it (rebuild) again,” she said.

But Tucker’s recruiting was starting to pay off. Azzi, the all-everything point guard, and standout Katy Steding were in the first recruiting class. Henning and Trisha Stevens signed a year later.

Everything turned around in VanDerveer’s third season in 1987-88. The Cardinal went 27-5 and reached the final 16 and went one step further the next season, to the quarterfinals.

Finally, the Cardinal reached the Final Four for the first time in 1989-90 and beat Auburn, 88-80, in the championship game before a crowd of 20,023 at Tennessee. Last season, Stanford lost to eventual champion Tennessee in the semifinals of the Final Four.

Now comes the challenge of maintaining excellence. For VanDerveer, it has almost been like a rebuilding year, although the Cardinal (22-3) is ranked sixth in the nation. Some rebuilding year.

But Stanford has only one senior, reserve Ann Adkins. Three juniors are starters, point guard Molly Goodenbour, shooting guard Christy Hedgpeth and center Val Whiting. The rest are sophomores and freshmen.

Naturally, such a young team has been prone to ups and downs. The Cardinal had a brilliant nonconference season, knocking off then No. 1-ranked Tennessee. But the first loss of the season was inflicted by rival California and the two other defeats have been dealt by Oregon State in February and Arizona State last Thursday.

Two days later, the Cardinal beat Arizona in Tucson.

“I think they have a shot at going back to the Final Four, I really do,” said Arizona Coach Joan Bonvicini.

Now, excellence is almost expected.

“There’s pressure to uphold the standard that has been set in the past. A loss is just a bad feeling,” Goodenbour said.

There have been only three this season. With three games remaining, all at home, VanDerveer hopes the Arizona State game will serve as a wakeup call.

“Playoffs are this team’s game,” she says. “Crunch time is their time. But we can’t sneak up on people anymore.”