Tara VanDerveer's path to NCAA wins record: Never stop growing - ESPN

At the end of every season, Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer thinks she's done coaching.

«I quit for about a day,» she said, laughing. «I'm like, 'Oh God, I can't take this anymore.'»

Then she plays with her dogs, goes for a swim, soaks in the world around her. And the feeling quickly passes; she's already thinking about next year's team and its journey.

A coach the past 45 years, VanDerveer reached a pinnacle Sunday: Stanford beat Oregon State for VanDerveer's 1,203rd career victory, passing former Duke men's coach Mike Krzyzewski for the most wins in NCAA basketball history.

«She's wired to do this,» said Jennifer Azzi, who played for VanDerveer on Stanford's first NCAA title team in 1989-90, as well as VanDerveer's gold-medal-winning Olympic team in 1996. «There are just those coaches who are in it because it's who they are, what they do and love every minute of it. Not that there are never frustrations or ups and downs. But the core of her is 100% in it.

»Someone like her doesn't really get burned out, because ultimately, they are always going for more. Not in a bad way, or for her ego. It's just, 'I'm always going to challenge myself and have a vision for where my team can go.'"

The ability to keep growing and adapting is why VanDerveer is at this peak. She embraced the 3-point shot when it was introduced in the 1980s. Decades later, she has adjusted to the name, image and likeness opportunities and the impact of transfers.

For VanDerveer, coaching basketball hasn't just been a labor of love, but a love of labor. She has picked the brains of every basketball guru she has ever been able to spend time with, allowing her to master coaching different offensive and defensive styles to match the talent