Oct 20, 2026 · 48 min · 11 segments
In this episode of the Hoops and Health podcast, the focus shifts to the women’s game, connecting the medical clinic to the basketball court. Host Dani Langford is joined by one of the most…
Tara VanDerveerGuest
Karlie SamuelsonGuestAnd so how you stumbled around coaching and with your incredible career that you have now, Talk to me a little bit about building culture.
And when you started to learn that piece at Stanford, you commented on fun being an important pillar for you.
What other components would you say has been involved in you creating the culture that you have over those 45 years?
Well, I've really, I think the thing that we're probably most proud of at Stanford is the sisterhood that we have, and we've had real sisters on the team, and when you have your sister on the team, the older sister usually is always looking out for the younger sister, and, you know, we want our older players to look out for our younger players and to be great leaders and mentors, and to kind of lead the way for our team.
So the sisterhood, teamwork, I think resilience, all part of all championship behavior.
And I think we developed what I would call the Stanford way how we would do things, develop routines, how everything that we do we have.
And again, I think that, you know, college athletics is, you know, some people see it as a business, but they're young people that are, they're just, they're going away from home for the first time.
So I think more than anything, you just want to be supportive and helpful and be there for young people to help them develop and give them a great
Do you think that that's possible now with the change in environment and NIL and transfer portals and different components? Because that takes time, right? And as you said, that takes alumni and probably support, like you said, through the years, alumni coming back.
if that can happen as quickly as the turnover rates, if you think that that can
I'm very, I'm really glad I had the opportunity to coach when I did and who I got to coach because they're just absolute phenomenal people and phenomenal players.
But I definitely think that that the college landscape has changed so much that it could impact it in a definite negative way.
Would you say, Was there any mentors, male or female, that you've had along the way that helped teach you about building culture the way you have?
I think you just want to make it as much of a family as you can, where people care about each other, they invest in each other.
And so how you stumbled around coaching and with your incredible career that you have now, Talk to me a little bit about building culture.
And when you started to learn that piece at Stanford, you commented on fun being an important pillar for you.
What other components would you say has been involved in you creating the culture that you have over those 45 years?
Well, I've really, I think the thing that we're probably most proud of at Stanford is the sisterhood that we have, and we've had real sisters on the team, and when you have your sister on the team, the older sister usually is always looking out for the younger sister, and, you know, we want our older players to look out for our younger players and to be great leaders and mentors, and to kind of lead the way for our team.
So the sisterhood, teamwork, I think resilience, all part of all championship behavior.
And I think we developed what I would call the Stanford way how we would do things, develop routines, how everything that we do we have.
And again, I think that, you know, college athletics is, you know, some people see it as a business, but they're young people that are, they're just, they're going away from home for the first time.
So I think more than anything, you just want to be supportive and helpful and be there for young people to help them develop and give them a great
Do you think that that's possible now with the change in environment and NIL and transfer portals and different components? Because that takes time, right? And as you said, that takes alumni and probably support, like you said, through the years, alumni coming back.
if that can happen as quickly as the turnover rates, if you think that that can
I'm very, I'm really glad I had the opportunity to coach when I did and who I got to coach because they're just absolute phenomenal people and phenomenal players.
But I definitely think that that the college landscape has changed so much that it could impact it in a definite negative way.
Would you say, Was there any mentors, male or female, that you've had along the way that helped teach you about building culture the way you have?
I think you just want to make it as much of a family as you can, where people care about each other, they invest in each other.
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