Stanford women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer said she is 'thrilled' for the Cardinal to be joining the ACC in 2024-2025.
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Stanford Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer, the all-time leader in women's basketball victories at 1,186, said Friday she is thankful the school will be joining the ACC in 2024-2025....
"This has been hard, really tough to see," VanDerveer said of the breakup of the Pac-12. "Obviously, we wanted to play in the Pac-12, that would have been the first choice. But when that wasn't going to happen, we are thrilled to be in the ACC....
No coach has been a bigger advocate of the Pac-12 and West Coast basketball than VanDerveer, who took over at Stanford in 1985 and has dominated the conference. The Cardinal have played in the women's Final Four 15 times and have won three NCAA championships, 26 league regular-season titles and 15 conference tournament titles since that event began in 2002. Stanford often traveled cross-country for nonconference games but will change its scheduling strategy upon joining the ACC.
"Instead of doing nonconference play back East, we'll play in November and December as much as possible on the West Coast," VanDerveer said. "Because then we'll be playing more East in January and February. Our nonconference will be regional, because our conference will be national."....
"What happened to the Pac-12 is very disappointing, but we're going to make the best of it. We're excited. We're very thankful to be in a league that wanted us. And it's a statement by Stanford that athletics really is important to Stanford."
INTERPRETATION: The Big Ten kicked Stanford to the curb unwanted. Stanford joins the ACC for now as the Pac-12 implodes.
