The 1980's

The 70's were a time of sweeping change for women's basketball, with Title IX, the introduction of scholarships, and a move to MaplesPavilion. The 80's also had its share of big changes that eventually thrust Stanford women's basketball into the national spotlight.

The Stanford teams of the early 80's had to learn quickly about players "stepping up" and the importance of a "team" effort. After thriving for two years with one of the greatest players in Stanford history, Jeanne Roark-Hoff, redshirted her junior season. If that wasn't enough, Angie Paccione, the team's second leading scorer, alsoredshirted. This made the start of the decade difficult for a successful Stanford team. The team went 15-16 for the '80-'81 season, but gained leaps and bounds in experience and became a much more balanced squad. Louise Smith and Kim Kupferer led the team in scoring and rebounding, with Smith doubling her scoring average from the previous year and Kupferer nearly tripling hers. The experiences of that season served Stanford well in the '81-'82 season with the team going 19-8 and appearing in the NCAA tournament. Though the return ofHoff and Paccione helped the team, it was the balanced scoring and experience learned over the '80-'81 season that helped the Cardinal shine. Four players averaged in double figures, and playing minutes were spread all around.

In the '82-'83 season, Stanford made the jump from the NorCal Conference to the tougher Western Collegiate Athletic Conference, but still manageda winning record of 19-16. By the end of this season, four of the seniors were in the top 10 for career points. Jeanne Ruark-Hoff led the list with Meg Metzger in third, Angie Paccione in sixth, and Kim Kupferer in seventh. To lose all four of these players to graduation made the '83-'84 season a big rebuilding year. Stanford struggled to a 5-23 record that season, but hoped some strong recruiting and off-season work would bring them success in the '84-'85 campaign. However, this was not the case, and Stanford again struggled with a 9-19 record. It was time for a big change in Stanford's camp.

There were quite a few changes in the '85-'86 season, including a new head coach, a new staff, new players, a new system, a new style, and last but not least, a new league. That's a lot of "newness" to digest in one season. Let's start with the coach. With Dotty McCrea's resignation at the end of the '84-'85 season, Stanford went out to find the best head coach nationally. They found that coach in Tara VanDerveer. She came to Stanford from Ohio State where she had led theBuckeyes to three straight NCAA appearances and was Big Ten coach of the year in her last two years. Before Ohio State, she was head coach at Idaho where she was also extremely successful. In her seven years of coaching, she had compiled a 152-51 record. Stanford was thrilled to have her and she was equally excited for the challenge.

The first year, that challenge would be to take 10 returners, three freshman, and some walk-ons and teach them VanDerveer's style of play.The team responded with a 13-15 record, with a promising non-league performance of 12-8. VanDerveer worked hard that season, not only on the court, but also off the court by scouring the country for blue chip recruits. Recruiting at Stanford was tough with high academic standards to meet, but VanDerveer and her staff searched the country for those rare women with both athletic and academic ability. Her first recruiting class was outstanding and included a young woman from OakRidge, Tennessee named Jennifer Azzi. Stanford women's basketball would never be the same.

Stanford came into the '86-'87 season with a year of a new coach under their belt and five new freshmen to add to the mix. It was also the maiden season of the PAC 10. Though their record of 14-14 seemed tough to swallow, they were starting to embrace VanDerveer's system, and with both Jennifer Azzi and Katy Steding making the PAC 10 all-freshman team, the future looked bright. VanDerveer's coaching staff was again hard at work bringing in five freshmen who were ranked the "number one recruited class in the nation" according toStreet and Smithmagazine. TheCardinal tide was beginning to turn.

The '87-'88 season could be referred to as the "breakout" season for Stanford. They went 27-5, were 14-4 in the PAC 10, which was good enough for third place, and made it to the sweet sixteen of the NCAA tournament. Azzi and Steding were named to the All PAC 10 team and standout freshmen Sonja Henning and Trisha Stevens were named to the AllPAC 10 freshmen team. Henning was also named National Freshman of the year by theWomen's Basketball News Service, who also named Tara VanDerveer the National Coach of the Year. Stanford was building momentum, With all five starters returning from the '87-'88 squad, and three new high profile freshmen, the '88-'89 season looked exceptionally bright.

As the success of the team climbed, so did something else - attendance. The interest in women's basketball was growing, and the sports crazy Bay Area had found a winner in Stanford. Their exciting up-tempo game with lots of three pointers and exciting moves to the basket was really starting to draw a crowd. The Cardinal Fast BreakClub was formed in the '88-'89 season and provided fans a chance to show their support for the program. Their enthusiasm and support for the team over the years has been a great sense of pride for women's basketball at Stanford.

Now that Stanford was "on the map" in the women's basketball world, they had to work hard to achieve more than the year before. The '88-'89 team did not disappoint anyone. They went 28-3 overall with an amazing 18-0 PAC 10 finish, and went to the elite eight before losing to Louisiana Tech in the Midwest Regional Final. Azzi, Henning, andSteding won All Conference honors with Azzi being named player of the year and Julie Zeilstra was named to the All Freshman Team. VanDerveer was PAC 10 Coach of the Year and Converse National Coach of the Year.

The biggest individual honor for a Stanford player came when JenniferAzzi was named a Kodak All-American. She was the only junior on the All American team. All the pieces were falling into place. With yet another great recruiting class to come in the fall that included ValWhiting and Molly Goodenbour, the whispers of a National Championship were leaving Tara VanDerveer's lips.

"The ingredients are here. We have the talent, the depth, the experience to go all the way." -Tara VanDerveer, Fall 1989. Those words proved to be right on target for the '89-'90 Stanford team. It was a magical season that started with a tough pre-season, another PAC 10 title, and ended with a National Championship and a trip to the WhiteHouse. A movie script could not have written it any better. Azzi, Henning, Steding, and Stevens All Conference selections with Azzi garnering player of the year the second straight year in the PAC 10. Val Whiting was named Freshman of the Year in the PAC 10 as well as National Freshman of the year, and Tara VanDerveer was named PAC 10 Coach of the Year once again.

On a team with so much balance, there still was a star. Her name was Jennifer Azzi. In the '89-'90 season, Jennifer won just about every award a women's college player can receive. Kodak All-American, Naismith Award, Wade Trophy, and Honda-Broderick Award just to name a few. Even with all these individual accolades, Jennifer always put her team first and taught the younger players what a tough work ethic really meant. She shaped the idea of what a Stanford player should always strive to be — a worker, a leader, a friend. Stanford's basketball women have always embodied these qualities, Jennifer just put them out there for the whole world to see. Now the 90's are upon us and the difficult task of building a basketball dynasty had begun.