made history last night as she became the# winningest coach in college basketball history,## surpassing former Duke men's# head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
VanDerveer has now won 1,203 games# in her 45 seasons as a head co 38 of them at Stanford.
She has# won three national championships,## most recently in 2021.
She has also led# the U.S. team to Olympic gold and has## been national coach of the year five times.
More# than 30 of her players have gone on to the WNBA.
To discuss the impact VanDerveer has had on## the game, we are joined now by# Christ Christine, always good to see you.
Just give us a sense of how bi but also just for women's basketball.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, USA Today:# Well, absolutely, Amna.
And because we are now in talent, of course, Caitlin Clark, LSU,# the stories that people know so well,## it is absolutely fitting that one# of the great people in the game,## one of the smartest coaches ever, male or female,# great strategist, self-e rather read a book than look at anything online,# who is not on social media, works out every day,## plays bridge, Tara VanDerveer, a legend, a# pillar of the game, again, men's and women's.
You don't have to have the adjective women's# in many ways with her, but the reality is,## it is women's basketball.
She has been leading# women throughout the entirety of Title IX,## as we have watched this wonderful law,# 51-and-a-half years old, working its way## through our country and changing women, changing# girls' opportunities, women's opportunities.
Tara VanDerveer is one of those great historical# figures, but she is still among us.
She is still## coaching.
And, as you said, it is just a# fantastic day for women's sports and for## sports in general, when we can say that she# has passed the great coach Mike Krzyzewski,## Duke men's basketball coach, and that# maybe there's a couple of people out## there who don't want to give a woman her# due, but my goodness, the nation has And it's wonderful to see the acclaim that# she is getting for this incredible feat.
AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned the self-effacing# style.
She has really evolved, adapted her## game.
She's been coaching since she was 24, but# her players also describe this calmness about Tell us about VanDerveer as a coach, as a leader.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN: I covered# her during the Olympics in 1996,## which you referred to, the Olympic gold medal.
I have covered her at a couple of# NCAA tournaments.
And, o again, the important thing here is, she won# in 1990 the national and then again in 2021.
So talk about longevity# and the ability to adapt with the game.
And I think it is -- the fact that she takes# breaks, she works out, she is all consumed in one## way, Amna -- as we know, a great coach has to be.# But in another way, she disengages, and she really## wants to have kind of an old-school life, where# she loves to read or just get away from it all.
And I think, because of that, she has stayed# sharp, she stayed fresh, the fact that she still## loves it.
Her -- of course, her players still# love her.
And she's doing this at Stanford,## one of our great academic institutions in the# country.
And think about that.
You just can't## get any player into Stanford.
So she's# doing this with the cream of the crop,## both athletically and academically, at the most# competitive time in the history of the sport.
AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned that 1996# Olympic team.
That was -- for me,## that was the dream team to watch.
They won# the Olympic gold that had superstars l Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes and# Dawn Staley and Rebecca Lobo on it.
The impact of that team and their win and the fan# base and the enthusiasm, that is what paved the## way for the WNBA to be formed.
I mean, talk about# the impact VanDerveer has had, not just on the## Olympic team, the national team, but on basketball# and the actual establishment of a league.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Well, you're right.
An Tara VanDerveer took over and actually took a# year sabbatical from Stanford to coach that,## as you said, that dream team, because, in# 1992, the U.S. women had won the bronze## medal.
They did not win every game.# They lost and didn't win the gold.
And so, therefore, the pressure's on, home# Olympics in Atlanta.
And what was riding on it?
Only the future of women's professional# basketball.
There were actually two leagues that## came out of those Olympics in Atlanta in 1996# after VanDerveer's team won the gold.
And one## of them, of course, exists to this day.
It's the# WNBA, so the professional opportunities for women,## another huge piece of the puzzle of# Title IX, those athletic opportunities.
You can actually then become a# professional athlete and make money## as a woman.
Those also came out of the# victory that Tara VanD AMNA NAWAZ: And just when you look at the game# today, Christine, we saw that a new broadcast## deal was just announced between the NCAA and# ESPN for over $900 million over Most of that deal, most of that deal# is made up of women's basketball games.
What does that say to you# about where the game is today?
CHRISTINE BRENNAN: I think if anyone has watched# Caitlin Clark, and we know that she is s out every arena she goes to, kind of like# a latter-day Harlem Globetrotter situation,## but it's a woman's basketball player# that the nation has fallen in love with.
Of course, LSU winning that national title# game against Iowa, the TV Amna, were so close to the men's ratings.
We# have never seen more people watch a woman's## basketball college game and then also -- and,# actually, frankly, college or pro -- and then## also the fact that it was really just a# couple million short of what the men had.
And so I think that's where we are, that here we# are, as we are now the second 50 years of Titl IX, and we are watching that the nation has# fallen in love with what it has created, the## girl next door, the girl you see in the kitchen# every morning, and the support now is there.
And for years, we knew that, as# we found out, that March Madness,## the title that was given to the men's game, was# not being allowed for the women' and market itself.
That all changed a few years# ago, and now the women are getting their due,## and they're getting those big# contracts, and we see the fans.
It all works in conjunction with everything else,# all th show us just how much the country has fallen in# love with basketball and with women's basketball## and these wonderful women's stars that we have# watched literally grow up in our neighborhoods.
AMNA NAWAZ: It's a great# time for the game, a great## time for Coach VanDerveer.
Congra And, Christine Brennan, thank you# to you.
Always great to CHRISTINE BRENNAN: You too, Amna.
Thank you.
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