Tennessee vs. Stanford is more than a game. It's tradition and a tribute to greatest coaches in history
Saturday's game between No. 9 Tennessee and No. 3 Stanford is more than a top 10 matchup. It's a part of a decades-long series started by two of the best coaches in the history of basketball.
The Lady Vols and Cardinal have faced off at least once every season since 1988, with the exception of last season – Stanford opted out of traveling to Knoxville due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tennessee is 25-12 against the Cardinal, and legendary Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt was 22-7 against Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer.
When the series started, Summitt and VanDerveer were alternating years of winning the NCAA Tournament title. Summitt won her first NCAA titles in 1987 and 1989; VanDerveer won her first in 1990, then it was Summitt in 1991 and VanDerveer again in 1992. The winner of the Tennessee-Stanford matchup each of those seasons went on to win the national championship. In the 1990-91 season, Tennessee beat Stanford three times.
REIGNING CHAMPS: Stanford nips Arizona, wins first women's NCAA basketball championship since 1992
"We lost a lot of games to them, but I think that we always got better because of playing them," VanDerveer said Monday. "I was a great friend of Pat's, she was an incredible person and I'm really thankful that we had the rivalry.
"I call it a win-win. No matter how we did, it was always going to make us better. If you win the game, that's great. And if you don't, you know, it's always gonna make the team better. We always just took it on as a challenge, and it was a great challenge for our team."
Both Summitt and VanDerveer are trailblazers in women's basketball, and two of the winningest coaches of all time – a title Summitt held until VanDerver got her 1,099th win on Dec. 15, 2020. VanDerveer has 1,131 career wins, continuing to hold the title of winningest coach in women's basketball.
While VanDerveer caught up to Summitt in wins, she still has five NCAA titles to go to tie Summitt's eight championships.
VanDerveer said the excellence Summitt established as a coach played a part in her own successes, too.
"I think a lot of the success that we've had, has been the fact that we've gotten to play them, play great competition, so, I think Pat's had a hand in our success and my success," VanDerveer said. "I'm happy to be part of the conversation with Coach Summitt."
VanDerveer will have a familiar face at the head of Tennessee's bench in Kellie Harper, who played against VanDerveer from 1995-99. Harper went 2-2 in her playing career against Stanford, and called the series a tradition.
"I've always admired Coach VanDerveer and how she coaches, how she carries herself and I did as a player and still do as a coach," Harper said. "I've had the opportunity to coach against her a few times, even prior to get into Tennessee. You know her teams are always going to be tough. They're well coached and really play intelligent basketball. So we know what we're gonna see and it'll be a great challenge."
Tennessee is off to its best start under Harper at 9-0, and the home game Saturday (5:15 p.m. ET, ESPN2) against Stanford (6-2) presents its greatest challenge yet. But VanDerveer sees Harper and Tennessee as a challenge, too.
"I'm not sure which is harder – her as a player or her as a coach," VanDerveer said of Harper. "She was a great player, and she's a great coach. I think she's done a fabulous job. I just appreciate the opportunity to play against them."
The Lady Vols are No. 1 in the country in rebounds per game, tallying an average of 50, carrying on Summitt's legacy of being a tough rebounding team.
"Pat always had this (saying): offense sells tickets, defense wins games and rebounding wins championships," VanDerveer said. "So we know that we'll have our work cut out for us coming Knoxville, you've got to rebound the basketball, no doubt."
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women's athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee vs. Stanford is tradition, tribute to greatest basketball coaches in history
