Charmin Smith Salutes Mentor Tara VanDerveer As She Approaches History

Cal's coach played for and worked with the Stanford legend who is about to eclipse Coach K's record for career wins.

Cal women’s basketball coach Charmin Smith says she has “no clue” about when her mentor, Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, might retire.

It certainly won’t be before the 70-year-old becomes the winningest coach in college basketball history. That could happen as soon as this weekend.

Sitting at 1,201 career victories, VanDerveer will get the chance to tie and eclipse retired Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s record of 1,202 wins when the Cardinal plays home games Friday night against Oregon and Sunday afternoon vs. Oregon State.

Retirement won't come before the Bears’ next shot at taking down VanDerveer’s eighth-ranked Cardinal on Feb. 16 at Maples Pavilion.

Tara VanDerveer / Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea, USA Today

Smith, who played for and coached alongside VanDerveer, relishes each opportunity she has to coach against her, even though she and the Bears have come up short in each of their eight tries, so far.

In spite of what must be a frustrating win-loss ledger, Smith embraces the chance to face VanDerveer and wants many more of them.

“I freaking love it. It’s fun,” she told me this week. “I hate losing. It’s just fun trying to beat Tara, you know. I want her to stay so I can keep trying to beat her. It’s really cool.”

The satisfaction Smith, 48, gets from these matchups stems, of course, from her long history with VanDerveer. She played four seasons for her and spent three years as an assistant, honing her coaching craft.

“The person who taught you a lot of what you know and you have this desire to want to show them you’re a good coach. You want them to be proud of you.” Smith said. “I’ve learned a lot from Tara and I love the Battle of the Bay.

“I love going against Stanford, I love going back to Maples and being on the opposing bench and still getting the love from the crowd, before the game and after the game, not during. It’s where I grew up.”

Just 18 when she was recruited out of St. Louis, Smith has known VanDerveer for way ore than half of her life. “What I remember about Tara before I got to Stanford was just that she was a winner and I wanted to play at the highest level for a winner,” Smith said.

VanDerveer made quite an impression during Smith’s first few practices as a freshman.

“Once I got there, she was just so intense and it made you intense. You understand the sense of urgency and the importance of doing things the right way — the Tara way, so to speak,” Smith said. “Yeah, I think intense is the right word.”

Smith and her teammates went 118-14 in four seasons and played in three Final Fours. Those were not trips the Cardinal merely hoped to make.

“It was 100 percent an expectation. I was not surprised that we were in three Final Fours. I was surprised that we weren’t in four,” said Smith, part of teams that went 118-14 from 1994 through ’97.

She returned as an assistant on VanDerveer’s staff for three years beginning in 2004-05 and contributed to 87 more victories.

Since arriving at Stanford in the fall of 1986, VanDerveer has guided teams to 15 Final Fours over four decades. She won NCAA titles in 1990 and ’92, then captured a third one in 2021 — 31 seasons after her first one.

VanDerveer’s longevity and ability to stay ahead of a changing game is perhaps what most impresses Smith.

“She just can do it all, and has done it all,” Smith said. “She figures out what’s best for the personnel she has. A lot of coaches aren’t that flexible and can’t navigate through times.

“She loves basketball and she loves learning and watching film. She’s also highly competitive. She hates losing and loves winning. Just the amount of time and energy she’s put into being a student of the game has made her the greatest.”

Cover photo of Charmin Smith, right, on the bench with Tara VanDerveer during her coaching days at Stanford by Kyle Terada, Stanford Athletics.

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo