Vanderveer Agonized Over Leaving Team

Tara VanDerveer welcomed her appointment Thursday as coach of the 1996 Olympic women’s basketball team. Deciding to leave her job as Stanford’s coach for more than a year was something else altogether.

“I agonized over that,” said VanDerveer, who will miss the 1995-96 collegiate season while coaching the women’s national team and the Olympic squad.

“It’s been extremely difficult. I think that has been by far the hardest thing. There has never been any doubt or hesitation, I mean I never thought that I wouldn’t want to work with the national team or the Olympic team. The hardest part has been saying to myself that I’m not going to be with our team (next season).”

For the first time, USA Basketball required the women’s coach to make a fulltime commitment for about a year while overseeing the senior national team, whose core is expected to make up the Olympic squad that will compete in Atlanta in 1996.

“I think this will really help the growth and development of girls and women’s basketball, probably more than any one single thing,” VanDerveer said.