Tara Vanderveer net worth is believed to be in seven figures. The legendary coach is assumed to be pocketing $2.5-3 million at Stanford.
Vanderveer, 70, is one win away from tying Mike Krzyzewski’s record of 1,202 wins. The Stanford women’s basketball coach began her coaching journey at Idaho with a $13,000 salary. Today, she is believed to be one of the highest-earning coaches among women’s basketball teams.
There would have been much clearer data about Tara’s earnings if Stanford wasn’t a private institution. The famous LSU coach Kim Mulkey signed a $36 million contract last season, making her the highest-paid coach in women’s basketball.
Many believe Tara could’ve easily been earning $9 million if she was coaching the men’s team. But she believes women’s basketball has come a long way and can still have many more improvements.
Tara Vanderveer Net Worth 2024
The iconic coach, Tara Vanderveer, has a net worth of about $9 million. In 2022, it was reported that the legendary Stanford coach earned a seven-figure salary.
But that data reported by The State was from 2016. Yahoo had noted that Tara made $2.28 million annually, according to a 2016 tax filing. As Stanford is a private school, there are no open records about Tara Vanderveer’s salary.
So, it won’t be shocking if Tara makes $2.5-3 million in 2024. In 2022, it was reported by USA Today that the highest-earning women’s basketball coach was UConn’s Geno Auriemma. Auriemma made $2.9 million and South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and LSU’s Kim Mulkey came second with $2.6 million each.
The publication noted that the average pay in women’s basketball had risen in the past ten years. Among 68 coaches, women earned $733,000 on average, and men earned $785,000.
The Arizona women’s basketball coach, Adia Barnes, said if Tara coached the men’s basketball team, she would have been making $9-10 million a year. And not many would argue with that statement.
In an interview with ESPN, Vanderveer said she began her coaching journey at Idaho with a $13,000 salary.
Things have changed massively since then. But women’s basketball could still do better for its coaches and players.
Tara Vanderveer reportedly owns three homes. After her father’s passing, Tara bought her family home in Chautauqua. Tara said she only manages at most two weeks a year on the grounds because of her work demands.
She also owns a home in Menlo, California, where she spends the majority of her time. In Minnesota, the basketball coach owns a getaway cabin. She bought the cabin in 1996 after leading Team USA to gold.
Tara Vanderveer Record And Total Wins
Tara Vanderveer is one win away from tying former Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski. She remains at 1,201 wins, and with two more wins, Tara will become the college basketball coach with the most wins.
The legendary coach says she never had the record in her mind. She loves downplaying her achievement, but Tara reaching the record will be a testament to how far women’s basketball has come.
She began coaching when women’s basketball hadn’t been recognized as an NCAA sport. It took Coach K 47 seasons to reach his milestone, Tara is about to do it in 45. But when Tara reaches the record, it might not last long as UConn women’s coach Geno Auriemma is only seven wins behind her.
She won two national championships early in her career, and Tara hit a lull in the early 2000s. And when the rumors of whether she could last at Stanford started swirling around, she came roaring back with five Final Four appearances.
In 2021, she won her much-awaited third championship. In her recent interview with The New York Times, when asked her rules for leading a winning team, Tara said it was to hire right.
She said a coach shouldn’t be the center of attention and that micromanaging won’t lead anywhere.
