Latest news with #TaraVanDerveer
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer wants you to ‘do your best and forgive the rest'
Former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer wants you to 'do your best and forgive the rest' Tara VanDerveer's curiosity has led her to countless unexpected situations. From swimming laps between Olympians Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel to making her own CDs on the piano, VanDerveer is a seeker. Advertisement 'I am interested in things,' she told me. 'I am curious. I really enjoy meeting people and learning new things.' When VanDerveer retired after the 2023-2024 basketball season, she had won more games than any college coach in history, men's or women's. As a head coach for 45 years at three different schools, VanDerveer racked up 1,216 wins (now second only to Geno Auriemma), won three national championships at Stanford and was named the national coach of the year five times. But during our two conversations, it became clear that VanDerveer cared as much about leadership as results, so much that she's working on a book about leadership and teamwork, making her the ideal person for Peak's first Q&A about growth, mindset and what it takes to be successful. Curiosity is not just VanDerveer's defining characteristic; it's the backbone of her leadership. Throughout her life, VanDerveer has leaned heavily on her desire to learn from every person and situation, often applying those takeaways to her own career. As a coach, she valued the importance of relationships and connections. She viewed teams as a family, and only if she really knew her players and coaches did she feel like she could give honest, difficult feedback. Advertisement Still, she learned she would never connect with everyone, so the most important thing for her was to always remain authentic. 'Look in the mirror and say, 'I did the best I could,'' she said. 'And we have a little saying: 'Do your best and forgive the rest.'' How do you think your curiosity factors into your own leadership style, and what does that style look like? I reach out for help. I don't feel like I have to be the smartest one in the room. On any team I've played on, I was never the best player. But I was always interested in learning more about the game and studying the game and the strategies of the game. I'll give you one example of exactly how I think of leadership. Have I told you about playing the piano? No, you didn't, but that sounds interesting. As a young girl, I took flute lessons from the number one flute teacher in the country. His name was Professor (James) Pellerite. He was at Indiana University and I took lessons from him. Lessons were $25 for half an hour. That's back in the '60s, so that was a lot of money for my parents. And I had a beautiful flute. But I took lessons from him in the summer. In the winter, there was a top teacher who was really demanding, but we didn't connect at all. However much I practiced, it was never enough. And as a 15-year-old, I just laid the flute down and said, 'I'm not playing anymore.' And I loved playing the flute and I loved playing in the orchestra, but for me, those lessons didn't work. They made me physically ill. Advertisement So as an adult, after the Olympics, I said, 'I'm going to learn to play the piano. And I'll teach myself.' My sister Heidi got me a keyboard for Christmas and within two weeks I realized I couldn't teach myself, so I went out and vetted different people about who to get as a piano teacher. I got a teacher and she was phenomenal! I was making CDs after one year, and she understood I was coaching, so if I didn't practice enough, she would say, 'Hey, let's just play duets.' I looked forward to my lessons; I loved them. And what I realized about a great teacher and a great leader is that they take you to some place that you can't go by yourself. This teacher was so phenomenal and I still have three great CDs that I love listening to and people were just amazed. They were like, 'Tara, how did you get so good? You must have a great teacher.' And, you know, I want to be a coach that I want to play for. I'm not perfect, but the connections I have with my former players, I cherish those relationships. I just really love the chance to get to know them and be someone who can take them somewhere that they couldn't go by themselves. Your story is such a good example of how forms of good leadership can be found anywhere. Right! Exactly. There's a story I've seen of how, when you came back from coaching the women's team at the Atlanta Olympics, you spoke about the importance of the journey rather than the outcome. I think there was tremendous pressure on that team to win the gold medal. And it would have been really hard, but you're going to learn lessons either way. I think the lesson of that gold medal was that there was nothing that was going to stop that team from winning the gold medal. The journey of that was great. It was incredible because everyone bought in at a really high level. I never had to take one player aside for one day or one minute and say, 'Hey, you need to shape up.' But the journey was very demanding. There's a certain thrill to excellence. I like watching the very best of just about any sport. Our synchronized swimming team won a national championship. I love watching them in the pool. I couldn't do it. Our men's gymnastics team, they've won five (consecutive) national championships. They're going for six this year. They are thrilling to watch. When you look at the very best of something, I just love it. When you're around excellence, it's very inspiring to me. It goes back to curiosity and how you think you can always learn something from watching people. I'm a copier! Advertisement I would love to know what you wanted to be when you were growing up. When I was a young girl, there weren't really sports, so coaching was not an option because that wasn't something that even existed. I really liked school. I thought, 'Well, I'll major in pre-med and go to medical school.' But I had a falling out with chemistry. I really loved biology and I liked physics, but I'm more of a history and english person if I'm honest because I like to read. I was OK at math, but I wasn't crazy about it. So I majored in sociology with a minor in psychology, but I planned to go to law school. And I ended up falling into coaching backwards because my sister's high school team needed some help, so I went and helped her team. And you know how timing in life is everything? My timing was bad for playing but really good for coaching. I ended up going to the Cathy Rush basketball camps and working at the basketball camps. I volunteered at Ohio State. I had a job from 6 in the morning until noon checking IDs at the rec center, but then I ended up going to graduate school at Ohio State, and I was a JV coach there and varsity assistant. I had my job in Idaho and then it just happened. I never thought I was going to be a basketball coach because there weren't coaches at the time. And after all of that, you are writing a book about leadership. Why a book about leadership in coaching? Well, it's funny. Alan Eagle is the author of several books, and Alan came to me and said, 'Hey, I'd like to write a book about you.' I was like, 'Honestly, I'm interested in other people, so let's do one about coaching and involve all the Stanford coaches and pick their brains.' So it will be about leadership, teamwork, coaching, but it won't be just me. I'm sure the process of writing this book in some ways has caused you to reflect a lot. What's your favorite memory or story from your journey of coaching? Well, what popped into my head right away was a young lady that I coached at Stanford, Olympia Scott. Olympia works at Nike now. She was an interesting recruit. She was not easy to recruit. I mean, she really kept to herself. It was really hard to get to know her. But when she came to Stanford, I loved coaching her. She called me one hour after she had her first child and I'm like, 'Olympia, why are you calling me?' And she's like, 'I wanted to share this with you!' That is something that has really stuck with me. She's just a really dynamic woman and to be part of people's lives is what we, as coaches, that's why you really do it. Advertisement And you know, Elise, it's a very interesting time right now in college athletics. We live in a time now where it's all about the portal and NIL money. I think NIL is a valuable thing for student athletes. And I transferred, so I'm not saying someone can't transfer. But when you transfer three, four times, how are you going to have real relationships with your teammates and coaches? Where is the trust? Where is the commitment? Where is the resilience and the determination? And when people are paid to do volunteer work, when you're paid to do community service, isn't that an oxymoron? So I just think in some ways the current athletic landscape is twisted, and I don't know that what is happening is always in the best interest of anyone. How do you think we could move in a positive direction with all this? I want people to really enjoy the journey. If you're a young person in a situation that is not going how you want it to go, you should really talk to people about it, and not just throw the baby out with the bathwater. Do you know what I mean? Just really understand yourself and say, 'Here are my goals. Can this situation help me achieve my goals?' There is always going to be a thorn with every rose. No place is ever going to be perfect. But you want the rose to be bigger than the thorn. If too many things are not going well, then it's good to change. But I think for young people, it's to see the big picture. To keep a journal, be in touch with themselves about what is important and what their priorities are. What works for you? What are your goals, and how can people help? Like when I said my piano teacher took me to a place I couldn't get to myself. There's no basketball player out there who can get to the top by themselves. You have to play on a great team, you have to have a coach that helps you, you have to be coachable. You have to want to listen, you have to want to learn. I'll leave you with one thing. We've talked so much about what you've learned over the years, but if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would you have benefitted from hearing the most? I think that probably if you're a coach and you do what I did for 40 years, you have a screw loose. I think you internalize a lot of pressure to win. You just do it to yourself because you're competitive. But if there was one thing I could tell my younger self, it would be to turn the temperature down in situations. Not look for ways to escalate confrontation, because sometimes you get into it and you get upset and maybe you do things later on that you regret. Sometimes I think your strengths are your weaknesses, and being too driven can be a weakness. Sometimes, all you know is what you know, and you are who you are, and if anything, I would be introspective and if I felt like I was going off track, I would ask for help and try to get back on track. Advertisement I think the hard thing is that with a lot of young people in sports, when you're talking about the very, very best, there's a gap between where they are and where they think they are. That's a hard gap to navigate. Sometimes, you have players and parents who are delusional about their own abilities. Whether someone is starting, how much they're playing, how much they are doing, and it's like, . I like players who really give themselves up for a team. They don't have to be the best players, but those are the players I've always worked best with. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Stanford Cardinal, WNBA, Women's College Basketball, Peak, Sports Leadership 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
16-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Former Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer wants you to ‘do your best and forgive the rest'
Editor's Note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic's new desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Peak aims to connect readers to ideas they can implement in their own personal and professional lives. Follow Peak here. Tara VanDerveer's curiosity has led her to countless unexpected situations. From swimming laps between Olympians Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel to making her own CDs on the piano, VanDerveer is a seeker. Advertisement 'I am interested in things,' she told me. 'I am curious. I really enjoy meeting people and learning new things.' When VanDerveer retired after the 2023-2024 basketball season, she had won more games than any college coach in history, men's or women's. As a head coach for 45 years at three different schools, VanDerveer racked up 1,216 wins (now second only to Geno Auriemma), won three national championships at Stanford and was named the national coach of the year five times. But during our two conversations, it became clear that VanDerveer cared as much about leadership as results, so much that she's working on a book about leadership and teamwork, making her the ideal person for Peak's first Q&A about growth, mindset and what it takes to be successful. Curiosity is not just VanDerveer's defining characteristic; it's the backbone of her leadership. Throughout her life, VanDerveer has leaned heavily on her desire to learn from every person and situation, often applying those takeaways to her own career. As a coach, she valued the importance of relationships and connections. She viewed teams as a family, and only if she really knew her players and coaches did she feel like she could give honest, difficult feedback. Still, she learned she would never connect with everyone, so the most important thing for her was to always remain authentic. 'Look in the mirror and say, 'I did the best I could,'' she said. 'And we have a little saying: 'Do your best and forgive the rest.'' How do you think your curiosity factors into your own leadership style, and what does that style look like? I reach out for help. I don't feel like I have to be the smartest one in the room. On any team I've played on, I was never the best player. But I was always interested in learning more about the game and studying the game and the strategies of the game. I'll give you one example of exactly how I think of leadership. Have I told you about playing the piano? Advertisement No, you didn't, but that sounds interesting. As a young girl, I took flute lessons from the number one flute teacher in the country. His name was Professor (James) Pellerite. He was at Indiana University and I took lessons from him. Lessons were $25 for half an hour. That's back in the '60s, so that was a lot of money for my parents. And I had a beautiful flute. But I took lessons from him in the summer. In the winter, there was a top teacher who was really demanding, but we didn't connect at all. However much I practiced, it was never enough. And as a 15-year-old, I just laid the flute down and said, 'I'm not playing anymore.' And I loved playing the flute and I loved playing in the orchestra, but for me, those lessons didn't work. They made me physically ill. So as an adult, after the Olympics, I said, 'I'm going to learn to play the piano. And I'll teach myself.' My sister Heidi got me a keyboard for Christmas and within two weeks I realized I couldn't teach myself, so I went out and vetted different people about who to get as a piano teacher. I got a teacher and she was phenomenal! I was making CDs after one year, and she understood I was coaching, so if I didn't practice enough, she would say, 'Hey, let's just play duets.' I looked forward to my lessons; I loved them. And what I realized about a great teacher and a great leader is that they take you to some place that you can't go by yourself. This teacher was so phenomenal and I still have three great CDs that I love listening to and people were just amazed. They were like, 'Tara, how did you get so good? You must have a great teacher.' And, you know, I want to be a coach that I want to play for. I'm not perfect, but the connections I have with my former players, I cherish those relationships. I just really love the chance to get to know them and be someone who can take them somewhere that they couldn't go by themselves. Your story is such a good example of how forms of good leadership can be found anywhere. Right! Exactly. There's a story I've seen of how, when you came back from coaching the women's team at the Atlanta Olympics, you spoke about the importance of the journey rather than the outcome. I think there was tremendous pressure on that team to win the gold medal. And it would have been really hard, but you're going to learn lessons either way. I think the lesson of that gold medal was that there was nothing that was going to stop that team from winning the gold medal. The journey of that was great. It was incredible because everyone bought in at a really high level. I never had to take one player aside for one day or one minute and say, 'Hey, you need to shape up.' But the journey was very demanding. There's a certain thrill to excellence. I like watching the very best of just about any sport. Our synchronized swimming team won a national championship. I love watching them in the pool. I couldn't do it. Our men's gymnastics team, they've won five (consecutive) national championships. They're going for six this year. They are thrilling to watch. When you look at the very best of something, I just love it. When you're around excellence, it's very inspiring to me. It goes back to curiosity and how you think you can always learn something from watching people. I'm a copier! I would love to know what you wanted to be when you were growing up. When I was a young girl, there weren't really sports, so coaching was not an option because that wasn't something that even existed. I really liked school. I thought, 'Well, I'll major in pre-med and go to medical school.' But I had a falling out with chemistry. I really loved biology and I liked physics, but I'm more of a history and english person if I'm honest because I like to read. I was OK at math, but I wasn't crazy about it. So I majored in sociology with a minor in psychology, but I planned to go to law school. And I ended up falling into coaching backwards because my sister's high school team needed some help, so I went and helped her team. Advertisement And you know how timing in life is everything? My timing was bad for playing but really good for coaching. I ended up going to the Cathy Rush basketball camps and working at the basketball camps. I volunteered at Ohio State. I had a job from 6 in the morning until noon checking IDs at the rec center, but then I ended up going to graduate school at Ohio State, and I was a JV coach there and varsity assistant. I had my job in Idaho and then it just happened. I never thought I was going to be a basketball coach because there weren't coaches at the time. And after all of that, you are writing a book about leadership. Why a book about leadership in coaching? Well, it's funny. Alan Eagle is the author of several books, and Alan came to me and said, 'Hey, I'd like to write a book about you.' I was like, 'Honestly, I'm interested in other people, so let's do one about coaching and involve all the Stanford coaches and pick their brains.' So it will be about leadership, teamwork, coaching, but it won't be just me. I'm sure the process of writing this book in some ways has caused you to reflect a lot. What's your favorite memory or story from your journey of coaching? Well, what popped into my head right away was a young lady that I coached at Stanford, Olympia Scott. Olympia works at Nike now. She was an interesting recruit. She was not easy to recruit. I mean, she really kept to herself. It was really hard to get to know her. But when she came to Stanford, I loved coaching her. She called me one hour after she had her first child and I'm like, 'Olympia, why are you calling me?' And she's like, 'I wanted to share this with you!' That is something that has really stuck with me. She's just a really dynamic woman and to be part of people's lives is what we, as coaches, that's why you really do it. And you know, Elise, it's a very interesting time right now in college athletics. We live in a time now where it's all about the portal and NIL money. I think NIL is a valuable thing for student athletes. And I transferred, so I'm not saying someone can't transfer. But when you transfer three, four times, how are you going to have real relationships with your teammates and coaches? Where is the trust? Where is the commitment? Where is the resilience and the determination? And when people are paid to do volunteer work, when you're paid to do community service, isn't that an oxymoron? So I just think in some ways the current athletic landscape is twisted, and I don't know that what is happening is always in the best interest of anyone. How do you think we could move in a positive direction with all this? I want people to really enjoy the journey. If you're a young person in a situation that is not going how you want it to go, you should really talk to people about it, and not just throw the baby out with the bathwater. Do you know what I mean? Just really understand yourself and say, 'Here are my goals. Can this situation help me achieve my goals?' There is always going to be a thorn with every rose. No place is ever going to be perfect. But you want the rose to be bigger than the thorn. If too many things are not going well, then it's good to change. But I think for young people, it's to see the big picture. To keep a journal, be in touch with themselves about what is important and what their priorities are. What works for you? What are your goals, and how can people help? Like when I said my piano teacher took me to a place I couldn't get to myself. There's no basketball player out there who can get to the top by themselves. You have to play on a great team, you have to have a coach that helps you, you have to be coachable. You have to want to listen, you have to want to learn. I'll leave you with one thing. We've talked so much about what you've learned over the years, but if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would you have benefitted from hearing the most? I think that probably if you're a coach and you do what I did for 40 years, you have a screw loose. I think you internalize a lot of pressure to win. You just do it to yourself because you're competitive. But if there was one thing I could tell my younger self, it would be to turn the temperature down in situations. Not look for ways to escalate confrontation, because sometimes you get into it and you get upset and maybe you do things later on that you regret. Sometimes I think your strengths are your weaknesses, and being too driven can be a weakness. Sometimes, all you know is what you know, and you are who you are, and if anything, I would be introspective and if I felt like I was going off track, I would ask for help and try to get back on track. Advertisement I think the hard thing is that with a lot of young people in sports, when you're talking about the very, very best, there's a gap between where they are and where they think they are. That's a hard gap to navigate. Sometimes, you have players and parents who are delusional about their own abilities. Whether someone is starting, how much they're playing, how much they are doing, and it's like, whoa. I like players who really give themselves up for a team. They don't have to be the best players, but those are the players I've always worked best with. Elise Devlin is a writer for Peak, The Athletic's new desk covering leadership, personal development and success. She last wrote about how ESPN analyst Jay Williams juggles so many roles. Follow Peak here. (Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; Brandon Vallance / Getty Images)
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Nothing boring about it: Unpredictable women's NCAA Tournament is another boost
For years, the knock on the women's NCAA Tournament was that it was too predictable, too top-heavy. Why watch when you what's going to happen? That's boring, right? It doesn't make for compelling viewing, OK? Ten women's hoops programs have capped undefeated seasons with a national championship, most recently, South Carolina last season. UConn won 111 straight games, and that was after the Huskies and Lady Vols jockeyed for dominance in the 2000s. Remember that? Remember how that was for women's college basketball? How a foregone conclusion to a national title matchup or Final Four pairing was somehow a reason not to watch or care? Though Vegas might have oddsmakers who say the women's and men's tournament is equally chalky this season, it seems — for maybe the first time — there's more uncertainty about which two or three teams might be in the national title game, and which collection of teams might make up the Final Four and Elite Eight on the women's side than the men's. This season, there's no obvious favorite, no team (or, even three teams, ahem) that seems to be head and shoulders above the rest. Sure, the idea of 15 or 14 seeds advancing to the second round doesn't feel overly likely, but I also wouldn't fault anyone entirely if their bracket has No. 14 seeds Oregon State over UNC or Florida Gulf Coast moving past Oklahoma State in the first round. Considering the first two rounds are still played at home sites for the women, it seems less probable than if it were played at a neutral site, but still, as one famous, albeit fictitious, coach (who has been spotted courtside at many a women's basketball games) once said: March, the greatest month on the women's teams have the best chance at cutting down the net? The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 18, 2025 To spot this growing parity, look no further than the opening game of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, a play-in game for a No. 11 seed. In an ultimate game of runs, Princeton and Iowa State traded blows in the second and third quarters to make it a game. Yes, Princeton. The program that doesn't give out athletic scholarships and whose league landed more teams in the tournament field than any other non-power conference. You know, Ivy League dominance. And that Iowa State team? Yes, that was also that program that, as a No. 7 seed last season (with its core cast returning), pushed Stanford to overtime in the second round (on the Cardinal's home court, no less) nearly ending the college careers of Cameron Brink and Tara VanDerveer in one fell swoop. These crumbs of parity have been laid on the trail for a while now for anyone paying attention. UCLA got the No. 1 overall seed, but South Carolina argued it had a case. (It did, albeit with counterpoints as well.) 'We have a lot of teams that can make a really good case for No. 1,' Close said after the Bruins beat the Gamecocks earlier this season. 'I think that's a great testament to our game. There's a lot more parity than there used to be.' After the selection show, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said she never thought she'd feel 'disrespected' after garnering a No. 1 spot, which, she did when the Big Ten regular season champion Trojans drew the fourth No. 1 seed and a road to Tampa that's line with hazards and potholes. UConn coach Geno Auriemma, whose Huskies drew a No. 2 seed (in USC's region) didn't sound surprised with the way the chips fell, sending the Huskies out West yet again for regionals for the third straight season. UConn garnered that No. 2 seed despite a No. 1 overall NET ranking and delivering a convincing February win at South Carolina, a place no opponent had won since 2020. No. 1 seed Texas sits in a region alongside: upstart TCU, a No. 2 seed that has been turned around almost entirely by veteran transfers; No. 5 seed Tennessee, an SEC foe the Longhorns beat by just four this season; and Notre Dame, a team that dropped to the No. 3 seed-line after spending 11 weeks in the AP top three and a week at No. 1. In a tournament where elite guard play can be decisive in advancement to the Final Four, the Irish boast two of the nation's best backcourt players in Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles (assuming you look beyond the Irish's recent skid). 'Stars are going to emerge — that's what you're going to see,' Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said. 'You have some sleeper teams. But this is the moment where big players, big stage, they emerge. So, I'm excited to see that from my team, but also, I'm excited for this women's tournament because it's going to be really fun.' This parity in women's college hoops — a sport where 'sleeper teams' didn't always seemingly exist — is the natural byproduct of the game's evolution, not just more investment at the college and grassroots levels but of the changing landscape of college sports. The transfer portal has given rise to massive player movement. There isn't a contender in the field without at least one (or several) starters or stars who came from the portal. (In the case of TCU's Hailey Van Lith, she previously played at Louisville and LSU). Conference realignment has played its part, too. The disbandment of the Pac-12 and some members being absorbed into mid-major conferences has had a ripple effect as former Oregon State Beavers swam upstream — Oklahoma's Final Four chances grew 10-fold when 6-foot-4 center Raegan Beers joined; USC buoyed its backcourt with the addition of guard Talia von Oelhoffen; UCLA added a unicorn in 6-4 forward Timea Gardiner (who leads the Bruins in 3-point percentage); and TCU added defensive ace Donovyn Hunter to its starting five. 'The landscape has started to change, and now certainly, in the era of NIL and the portal, players have more opportunities to go to more places and feel like they can be successful,' Auriemma said. 'There are a lot more really, really, really good teams than there have been in a long time. Super teams, great teams? Maybe not as many of those, but certainly a lot more really good teams that would make for a truly interesting NCAA Tournament.' Some of the parity on the floor emanates from teams whose players have excelled the old-fashioned way — as it can be called now — by staying four seasons (or maybe five) at a single school. UConn's Paige Bueckers has fought through injuries to get to her fifth season, and what is seemingly her last, to bring the Huskies back to the hallowed ground of hoops. Kansas State's Ayoka Lee, another fifth-year player, completely changes the complexion of USC and UConn's region in Spokane if she's healthy enough to play. Though she has played fewer than 20 games this season, at 6-7, she's a dangerous force alongside senior guard Serena Sundell, who leads all power conference players in assists per game. L.A. native JuJu Watkins made the uncommon decision as the nation's top recruit to stay home at USC — a program that hadn't been nationally relevant in her lifetime — with the hopes of returning the prestige once delivered from Cheryl Miller, another famous Californian. Similarly, Mikayla Blakes — a top-10 recruit in the 2025 class — opted for Vanderbilt, a total sleeper not just in college hoops, but in the SEC. The Commodores are now a No. 7 seed in South Carolina's Birmingham region behind the freshman's high-powered scoring, which could stand in the way of Duke and North Carolina. And still we haven't yet mentioned NC State (whose upset of Notre Dame started a skid) or LSU, one of the last non-No. 1 seeds to win the national title (the Tigers were a No. 3 seed when they took the crown over Iowa in 2023). All of these teams, all of these players, all of these coaches have seen the game change. It was never boring (even if it might've felt like a foregone conclusion) before, but the uncertainty and open-endedness of this March raised by this parity has changed and elevated the game in a new way. 'There's no easy bracket,' Auriemma said. 'There's no one bracket that's harder than the others. There's no easy matchups. There's no 'somebody's got a tough road, somebody's got an easy road.'' One thing is certain: The road is there for more teams than there ever has been. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Sports Business, Women's College Basketball, Opinion 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
21-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Nothing boring about it: Unpredictable women's NCAA Tournament is another boost
For years, the knock on the women's NCAA Tournament was that it was too predictable, too top-heavy. Why watch when you know what's going to happen? That's boring, right? It doesn't make for compelling viewing, OK? Ten women's hoops programs have capped undefeated seasons with a national championship, most recently, South Carolina last season. UConn won 111 straight games, and that was after the Huskies and Lady Vols jockeyed for dominance in the 2000s. Remember that? Remember how that was bad for women's college basketball? How a foregone conclusion to a national title matchup or Final Four pairing was somehow a reason not to watch or care? Advertisement Though Vegas might have oddsmakers who say the women's and men's tournament is equally chalky this season, it seems — for maybe the first time — there's more uncertainty about which two or three teams might be in the national title game, and which collection of teams might make up the Final Four and Elite Eight on the women's side than the men's. This season, there's no obvious favorite, no team (or, even three teams, ahem) that seems to be head and shoulders above the rest. Sure, the idea of 15 or 14 seeds advancing to the second round doesn't feel overly likely, but I also wouldn't fault anyone entirely if their bracket has No. 14 seeds Oregon State over UNC or Florida Gulf Coast moving past Oklahoma State in the first round. Considering the first two rounds are still played at home sites for the women, it seems less probable than if it were played at a neutral site, but still, as one famous, albeit fictitious, coach (who has been spotted courtside at many a women's basketball games) once said: BELIEVE. It's March, the greatest month on the calendar. Which women's teams have the best chance at cutting down the net? — The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 18, 2025 To spot this growing parity, look no further than the opening game of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, a play-in game for a No. 11 seed. In an ultimate game of runs, Princeton and Iowa State traded blows in the second and third quarters to make it a game. Yes, Princeton. The program that doesn't give out athletic scholarships and whose league landed more teams in the tournament field than any other non-power conference. You know, Ivy League dominance. And that Iowa State team? Yes, that was also that program that, as a No. 7 seed last season (with its core cast returning), pushed Stanford to overtime in the second round (on the Cardinal's home court, no less) nearly ending the college careers of Cameron Brink and Tara VanDerveer in one fell swoop. These crumbs of parity have been laid on the trail for a while now for anyone paying attention. Advertisement UCLA got the No. 1 overall seed, but South Carolina argued it had a case. (It did, albeit with counterpoints as well.) 'We have a lot of teams that can make a really good case for No. 1,' Close said after the Bruins beat the Gamecocks earlier this season. 'I think that's a great testament to our game. There's a lot more parity than there used to be.' After the selection show, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said she never thought she'd feel 'disrespected' after garnering a No. 1 spot, which, she did when the Big Ten regular season champion Trojans drew the fourth No. 1 seed and a road to Tampa that's line with hazards and potholes. UConn coach Geno Auriemma, whose Huskies drew a No. 2 seed (in USC's region) didn't sound surprised with the way the chips fell, sending the Huskies out West yet again for regionals for the third straight season. UConn garnered that No. 2 seed despite a No. 1 overall NET ranking and delivering a convincing February win at South Carolina, a place no opponent had won since 2020. No. 1 seed Texas sits in a region alongside: upstart TCU, a No. 2 seed that has been turned around almost entirely by veteran transfers; No. 5 seed Tennessee, an SEC foe the Longhorns beat by just four this season; and Notre Dame, a team that dropped to the No. 3 seed-line after spending 11 weeks in the AP top three and a week at No. 1. In a tournament where elite guard play can be decisive in advancement to the Final Four, the Irish boast two of the nation's best backcourt players in Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles (assuming you look beyond the Irish's recent skid). 'Stars are going to emerge — that's what you're going to see,' Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said. 'You have some sleeper teams. But this is the moment where big players, big stage, they emerge. So, I'm excited to see that from my team, but also, I'm excited for this women's tournament because it's going to be really fun.' Advertisement This parity in women's college hoops — a sport where 'sleeper teams' didn't always seemingly exist — is the natural byproduct of the game's evolution, not just more investment at the college and grassroots levels but of the changing landscape of college sports. The transfer portal has given rise to massive player movement. There isn't a contender in the field without at least one (or several) starters or stars who came from the portal. (In the case of TCU's Hailey Van Lith, she previously played at Louisville and LSU). Conference realignment has played its part, too. The disbandment of the Pac-12 and some members being absorbed into mid-major conferences has had a ripple effect as former Oregon State Beavers swam upstream — Oklahoma's Final Four chances grew 10-fold when 6-foot-4 center Raegan Beers joined; USC buoyed its backcourt with the addition of guard Talia von Oelhoffen; UCLA added a unicorn in 6-4 forward Timea Gardiner (who leads the Bruins in 3-point percentage); and TCU added defensive ace Donovyn Hunter to its starting five. 'The landscape has started to change, and now certainly, in the era of NIL and the portal, players have more opportunities to go to more places and feel like they can be successful,' Auriemma said. 'There are a lot more really, really, really good teams than there have been in a long time. Super teams, great teams? Maybe not as many of those, but certainly a lot more really good teams that would make for a truly interesting NCAA Tournament.' Some of the parity on the floor emanates from teams whose players have excelled the old-fashioned way — as it can be called now — by staying four seasons (or maybe five) at a single school. UConn's Paige Bueckers has fought through injuries to get to her fifth season, and what is seemingly her last, to bring the Huskies back to the hallowed ground of hoops. Kansas State's Ayoka Lee, another fifth-year player, completely changes the complexion of USC and UConn's region in Spokane if she's healthy enough to play. Though she has played fewer than 20 games this season, at 6-7, she's a dangerous force alongside senior guard Serena Sundell, who leads all power conference players in assists per game. L.A. native JuJu Watkins made the uncommon decision as the nation's top recruit to stay home at USC — a program that hadn't been nationally relevant in her lifetime — with the hopes of returning the prestige once delivered from Cheryl Miller, another famous Californian. Similarly, Mikayla Blakes — a top-10 recruit in the 2025 class — opted for Vanderbilt, a total sleeper not just in college hoops, but in the SEC. The Commodores are now a No. 7 seed in South Carolina's Birmingham region behind the freshman's high-powered scoring, which could stand in the way of Duke and North Carolina. And still we haven't yet mentioned NC State (whose upset of Notre Dame started a skid) or LSU, one of the last non-No. 1 seeds to win the national title (the Tigers were a No. 3 seed when they took the crown over Iowa in 2023). All of these teams, all of these players, all of these coaches have seen the game change. It was never boring (even if it might've felt like a foregone conclusion) before, but the uncertainty and open-endedness of this March raised by this parity has changed and elevated the game in a new way. Advertisement 'There's no easy bracket,' Auriemma said. 'There's no one bracket that's harder than the others. There's no easy matchups. There's no 'somebody's got a tough road, somebody's got an easy road.'' One thing is certain: The road is there for more teams than there ever has been.
