[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 6, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E116]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO TARA VANDERVEER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 6, 2024

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and praise an 
extraordinary American, Stanford Women's Basketball Coach, aka `T 
Dawg', Tara VanDerveer. On January 21, 2024, she won her 1,203rd game, 
setting an all-time record for the most coaching wins in the history of 
college basketball. She achieved this in 45 seasons and has led her 
team to three N.C.A.A. champIonship victories.
  Tara VanDerveer is the daughter of Dunbar and Rita VanDerveer and was 
born in Boston in 1953. She didn't play basketball at her first high 
school, but she played when she transferred to Buffalo Seminary in her 
junior year. She attended Albany University where she played as a 
freshman, then transferred to Indiana University, Bloomington where her 
team reached the AIAW Final Four.
  After college, Tara took an unpaid assistant coaching position at 
Ohio State where she quickly ascended to Assistant Coach and Head JV 
Coach. She then became Head Coach at the University of Idaho. She 
returned to Ohio State as Head Coach for the 1980-1981 season and left 
to become Stanford's Head Coach in 1985. Her record at Stanford was 27-
5 by her third year, and her team earned a bid to the N.C.A.A. 
tournament in 1988 and has done so every year since. In 1989 Stanford 
won the Pac-10 regular season and in 1990 reached the Final Four. Tara 
took a one-year leave from Stanford to coach the U.S. Olympic team, 
winning the Gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
  Tara is loved by her players and is known for her fairness and her 
moderate temperament. Her rules for leadership success include having a 
vision for her team, maximizing each player's strengths, and minimizing 
their weaknesses. She wants her players and staff to complement her, 
not compliment her, and she always remembers her father's advice that 
you `can't win the Kentucky Derby on a donkey.' She is a good listener 
and a constant learner who credits her parents for teaching her the 
most about leadership.
  Tara VanDerveer and the Stanford Women's Basketball team have brought 
entertainment and joy to legions of fans. Home game nights are 
sacrosanct for the team's devotees. They won't miss a game for 
anything. The fans know how much Tara deserves the almost fifty Coach 
of the Year awards she has earned.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in 
honoring Stanford Women's Basketball Coach Tara VanDerveer. I'm 
exceedingly proud to represent her and her teams in the Congress and 
know that all my constituents join me in a huge college cheer for this 
amazing champion. She is widely and affectionately known by her well-
earned sobriquet, G.O.A.T. Tara VanDerveer is indeed the Greatest Of 
All Time. She is a national treasure and a jewel in the crown of the 
16th Congressional District.

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