Legendary Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer announced her retirement, and in addressing the decision, she made it clear that it had nothing to do with the school's move to the ACC, despite many fans speculating that it did. She even said that it was a motivator because she believes the league will be great.

“I just want to say that it has nothing to do with going to the ACC. That was a motivator to want to stay, to play that competition, because I think it's going to be a great, great league,” Tara VanDerveer said, via Isabel Gonzalez of CBS Sports. “My mom is 97 this year and I think just wanting to do things that maybe you just want to do in your life. And you realize that this is not a dress rehearsal. This is your real life. I feel like basketball coaching has changed a lot over the 40 years, as you could imagine. But now it is an incredibly 24/7 job. And even if you're on vacation, I'm on the phone recruiting.”

VanDerveer went on to say that she is just ready to move on from coaching the Stanford women's basketball program, even though she thought that this day might never come.

“Sometimes it's just you're ready. And I just felt I'm ready,” VanDerveer said, via Gonzalez. “I never really thought I would be. Thought I would keel over on the bench.”

It is interesting to hear VanDerveer speak so candidly on her decision. Only she truly knows whether or not the conference change plays a part. It is an increase in travel, but there definitely are marquee matchups in the ACC as well, most notably with Notre Dame. Kate Paye, a former Stanford player under VanDerveer and a long-time assistant is taking over as the head coach of the program heading into the 2024-2025 season as the school heads into the ACC. It will be an interesting dynamic and a lot of change in one year.

Tara VanDerveer's Stanford career

VanDerveer leaves coaching with the all-time wins record in NCAA history with 1,216. That is likely to be passed by UConn's Geno Auriemma next season, as he has 1,213 wins right now. Regardless, it was an incredible career for VanDerveer to turn Stanford into a women's basketball powerhouse.

To start out her head coaching career, VanDerveer was at Ohio State from 1981-2985, before taking the Stanford head coaching job. After missing the tournament for two years, VanDerveer missed it again with Stanford. She won her first national championship in her fifth year at the school during the 1989-1990 season, and won it again two years later in 1991-1992.

It was nearly 30 years later when VanDerveer won the national title again in 2020-2021, but Stanford was a consistent contender for the title pretty much every season. She leaves with 14 Final Four appearances.