Stanford women's basketball presented with new challenges for 2024-25 season

With Tara VanDerveer retiring, Stanford will be under new leadership as they navigate a new conference. Still, expectations will be high for a team that has been near the top of the college basketball world for decades.

Oct 9, 2024; Charlotte, NC, USA; Stanford forward Brooke Demetre during ACC Media Days at The Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

In just a couple of weeks, it will be time for a new era of Stanford basketball to begin, with membership in a new conference under the guidance of a new head coach being the main headline of the offseason.

But after coming off of a 30-win campaign, expectations for more success are high in Palo Alto, with new coach Kate Paye ready to continue the legacy of Tara VanDerveer alive and well. Participating in ACC Media Day last week, Paye, along with players Brooke Demetre and Talana Lepolo were the representatives for Stanford, answering questions from the media in anticipation for the new campaign.

Here are the five most important takeaways from Stanford at the ACC media event.

Change is being embraced

In addition to being in a new conference, the Cardinal will also have a new head coach, as legendary coach Tara VanDerveer retired after last season. With Paye now leading the way in her first season in charge, the Cardinal will go into their new era with a new leader and with multiple changes occurring at once, the team will embrace all of it as they get ready for the start of the season.

“Having so much change has been helpful,” Paye said. “There’s not just one thing that’s different, there’s a lot of things that are new and different. And I think it creates a sense of energy for our staff, for our players and amongst all this change, we are really leaning into continuity. The values of hard work, unselfishness, toughness, togetherness, our goals remain the same, winning a conference championship, winning a national championship. I’m just really grateful for the people I stand in the circle with everyday. Our incredible staff and the terrific student athletes on our team.”

Sometimes it can be hard to navigate a bunch of changes, but for a team that has been at the top of the sport for so many years, nothing is too difficult for the historically dominant Cardinal.

Expect much more out of Demetre

December 23, 2022; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal forward Brooke Demetre (21) during the third quarter against the California Golden Bears at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Having spent the previous three seasons as a key reserve for the Cardinal, senior Brooke Demetre is poised to take on a much larger role this year, not only because she is a senior but with the departure of star Cameron Brink, Demetre’s leadership and skill set will be relied upon even more.

“Every year, my role has looked different,” Demetre said. “But I definitely think this year I’ll have to look to be more aggressive, look to find my shots a little bit more within our offense, but also be a great leader on the floor for our underclassmen and be somebody that we can always rely on.”

Averaging 6.3 points, 1.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds last season, Demetre proved herself to be a major bench piece but with more minutes heading her way, expect her to make another big jump this season.

Italy tour helped the team figure out Stanford's identity

In August, the team went on a tour in Italy where they played a handful of exhibition games against some local teams. Even though the trip was more of an overall experience than just purely playing basketball games, the team getting a chance to play games helped them figure out what they have to work with this season and what kind of team this will be.

“It really is a new roster and I think our team is extremely excited about the opportunity,” Paye said. “We have kind of a metaphor, it’s like ‘pop the cork off the champagne bottle and the champagne bubbles over.’ People are stepping up, we’re seeing new skill sets, new leaders emerging. I think the thing that we’re most excited about, and I think is really going to be really special about the team, is the incredible unselfishness. The ball is moving and nobody is not sticking it in anybody’s hands. I think this could be a team where we have a different leading scorer every night. And really, what’s really exciting is all the women on our team are all about Stanford.”

High expectations will surely surround a Stanford team that is a perennial contender and even though the team is in a different setting and will look vastly different than in years past, the Cardinal will lean into their identity and look to continue their run of success and establish themselves as true ACC threats.

Travel schedule will not be an issue

One of the biggest questions surrounding the move to the ACC is the travel situation and how teams like the Cardinal will navigate the mileage that will come with an ACC schedule. But it seems that from Stanford’s perspective, there are no concerns as Paye credits the strong support staff for ensuring that the team has comfortable and smooth traveling conditions.

“It’s more of an external narrative than something that we’re obsessing over internally,” Paye said. “This is the same travel schedule or cadence that we’re used to coming from the Pac-12 in terms of having travel partners, being home for two games, then next week, you’re on the road for two games. We charter everywhere we go, we have tremendous support from our administration. We have a terrific sports performance, sports science department that will help us adjust and recover and be ready to really perform at a really high level. Our team is excited to play great competition [and] view new venues. Obviously, we recruit nationally and internationally.”

Traveling can affect a lot of aspects of a student-athletes life, but a good staff within the program and the experience of the players and coaches will keep things business as usual and ensure that the team is locked in and focused at all times.

Recruiting philosophy won’t change

For decades, Stanford has been a hot spot in terms of attracting top talent, with the school being arguably one of the nation’s best and a basketball team that was consistently in the national spotlight under VanDerveer. And while the regime is staying the same, as Paye served as VanDerveer’s second in command for years, it was unknown how recruiting would be affected. But under Paye, the plan of attack will remain the same in that regard as the standards of what the team will look for is not going to change.

“We’re still looking for exactly the same student athlete as we were before,” Paye said. “Stanford attracts a certain kind of student athlete. We are out there everyday, around the country, around the world looking for the very best, elite students who have great transcripts, really value education and academics who are also fantastic basketball players and want to compete for a national championship. So really, that hasn’t changed at all. In a lot of ways, Stanford kind of self selects and sells itself. We have a beautiful campus, great weather. We hope the ACC fans take a trip out to Palo Alto and visit The Farm. Stanford is a really special place so from a recruiting standpoint, I don’t think much has changed.”

A very talented team is on deck for this season but with Paye in it for the long haul, being able to keep the standard of Stanford basketball the same will be the top priority.