3 reasons why Tara VanDerveer's winningest basketball coach record is at par with Mike Krzyzewski's legacy

Oregon v Stanford
Tara VanDerveer stands alone with the most wins in NCAA basketball.

Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer made history this week by passing former Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski's record for wins as she picked up win number 1,203. With this record, it is going to be interesting to see how it is viewed.

As a result, let's take a look into why these two coaches should be mentioned in the same breath as one another.

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3 Reasons Why Tara VanDerveer is at par with Mike Krzyzewski

#1: College basketball is tough

Whether it be the men's or women's side of college basketball, it is still difficult to be a successful coach. With the significant changes to the roster at the end of every season, building a culture that is conducive to winning games and doing so consistently is tough.

While women's basketball does not get the same admiration from a widespread audience as men's basketball, being consistently a powerhouse is extremely difficult. It takes excellent recruiting and sustained success to even approach how Tara VanDerveer has done throughout her legendary career.

#2: She's become a staple to one program

Just like coach Krzyzewski's coaching career gets highlighted for being with the Duke Blue Devils program for 42 years, Tara VanDerveer has that with the Stanford Cardinal program, as she took over in 1985.

It is not like her coaching career looks like a CVS receipt of leaving places for other opportunities. Instead, she has built one of the most consistently competitive programs in the history of the sport, no matter the gender.

#3: She has significant challengers in the sport

The women's college basketball scene has not always been focused on how well the Stanford Cardinal has been. Instead, the team has been overlooked by a different program on the opposite side of the country, the UConn Huskies, led by Geno Auriemma. Having multiple dominant coaches who are less than 10 wins apart from one another has greatly changed the feeling.

Just like coach Krzyzewski had with Kentucky coach John Calipari, the women's coaches have been at odds with one another on opposite sides of the country. It gives VanDerveer a sense of being overlooked as the Huskies have had a higher peak despite making college basketball history.

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Edited by Shamik Banerjee
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