Katy Steding was the beginning - Tara's first recruit in 1985. Out of Lake Oswego, Oregon she was the first step in turning around one of America's truly anemic wbb programs. The team's record for the previous two seasons before Tara said, "Yes" to Stanford's AD, Andy Geiger, was 14 wins and 42 loses.
Many felt Tara had bought a pig in a poke. I've never understood what that means, but Tara's father and I felt Mr. VanDerveer's daughter had made a monumental mistake. Leaving Ohio State's Head Coaching position where everything was coming up aces - the recruiting pipeline sparkled with five star players, and the team appeared ready to make a solid run at the national championship - to go where? Stanford? You've got to be kidding!
Her father called it a coach's graveyard. UConn for example accepts 48% of its applicants - Stanford accepts 4%. Sitting in a Nike high school invitational tournament years ago, Amy Tucker told me she could realistically approach three, or four, and sometimes five of the top 100 recruits in the nation in any year. And how many of them would want to come to the wrong side of the nation - 3000 miles from the sportswriters and the TV networks? (UConn is an hour drive from NYC.) How many of them would choose to work twice as hard in their classes as almost any other major wbb program? How many would decide to play where the eastern writers would be in bed by the time your game started, if you ever appeared on ESPN?
I'll never forget Dick Vitale relating before a national semi-final game in the men's tournament, that he had run into Mark Madsen, a Stanford player, in the hotel coffee shop just before midnight the night before his game, taking an exam online. His professor had told him, "No sir! No exceptions, it has to be in by midnight!" Dickey bellowed, "Can you believe it!"
Reuters Worldwide News Service ranks Stanford the Number One university in the world. UConn ranks Number 251.
Anyway, Katy Steding said, "Yes."
I'd like to see a transcript of Tara's thoughts at that big moment in 1985. What a breakthrough recruit! Katy was soon joined by Jennifer Azzi, Sonja Henning, and Val Whiting. After a couple of years of sputtering, in 1988 the Cardinal began a thirty-two year straight run of qualifying for the NCAA Women's Tournament. In the championship game in 1990, Katy set the record for the most three-point shots made in the history of the tournament championship game - six - in their win over Auburn.
And this week, Katy said, "Yes" again. Hallelujah! I have a feeling about this hire and this season - 2021. This could be the Cardinal's year.
I don't know Britney Anderson, but we all know Tara's good judgment. I look forward to seeing the effect of Britney's teaching on our great young players.
GO STANFORD!!
