Cal Coach Charmin Smith, Lindsay Gottlieb Comment on Tara VanDerveer's Retirement

Golden Bears head coach Charmin Smith played for VanDerveer at Stanford and was an assistant coach under her for three years. Former Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb, now at USC, also reacted to the news of VanDerveer's retirement in an Associated Press report

Cal women's basketball head coach Charmin Smith, who played for Tara VanDerveer at Stanford and also spent three years as an assistant coach under VanDerveer, commented about VanDerveer's retirement, which was announced Tuesday.

Former Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb, now USC's head coach, also had good things to say about VanDerveer, who is the alltime leader in college basketball coaching wins with 1,216. She passed Mike Krzyzewski for the top spot this past season. VanDerveer coached at Stanford for 38 years and was a head coach for 45 years.

Smith posted a comment on her Instagram account:

"I think one goal is to leave the game better than you found it. Mission accomplished, Tara. Thank you for everything. Enjoy the next chapter . . . "

Smith also was quoted in the Associated Press report on VanDerveer's retirement:

“She’s a legend. The game will miss her,” Smith said in a text to AP. “I’m grateful for everything Tara has done to contribute to the coach I am today.”

Smith played on three Final Four teams (1995, 1996, 1997) while at Stanford under VanDerveer, although the Cardinal did not win any national championships in that span. Smith was a starter on one of those Final Four teams and an important contributor in the other two.

Smith was later an assistant coach at Stanford for three seasons (2004-2007).

Smith was also known for her imitation of VanDerveer's speaking voice, something VanDerveer enjoyed.

VanDerveer commented about Smith's coaching prospects prior to Smith's first season as Cal's head coach in 2019.

Gottlieb was a Cal assistant coach from 2005 to 2008, and was the Bears' head coach from 2011 to 2019. She was succeeded as Cal's head coach by Smith.

Gottlieb recalled the moments that VanDerveer reached out to her and to other coaches.

“For me being on the West Coast I had a front-row seat to all those things,” Gottlieb told AP. “The first call after that win [over LSU in the 2013 NCAA tournament] was from Tara and she asked if we wanted the Georgia scout — after her season had just ended [in a loss to Georgia]. Those are things you don’t forget. It shapes the way you treat opponents, it shapes the way you treat other coaches.

“From the time I wrote Tara a letter as a senior in college until coaching against her 25 years later, she has always been the model for game-planning, for excellence and for growing our game, and I think our prevailing feeling should be gratitude for everything she’s done for all of us.”

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