The Stanford Cardinal women’s basketball coaching staff got their replacements for the 2020-21 season as Katy Steding and Britney Anderson will be joining the ranks. The duo is set to replace former coaches Lindy La Rocque and Tempie Brown as La Rocque was named the head coach at UNLV and Brown stepped down for personal reasons.
Steding is a former Stanford basketball player who helped lead the Cardinal to the 1990 National Title. She played professionally for multiple teams and was most recently an assistant at San Francisco. She was the head coach at Boston University for five seasons and is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.
Perhaps her most prestigious accomplishment remains her 1996 Olympic Gold Medal she earned with the US National Team in Atlanta. She also won a gold medal at the 1991 Summer Universiade in England.
As history would have it, current Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer was the coach of that National Team and Steding was actually the first recruit that VanDerveer signed as the head coach of the Cardinal. VanDerveer spoke with GoStanford on their collective history.
“The combination of someone with an extensive history with our program and someone with a new and fresh perspective will complement our staff,” said VanDerveer. “Both Katy and Britney have excellent reputations as strong recruiters and relationship builders. I know both will make major contributions to our team’s success and will be outstanding representatives of our program. Katy and Britney join an impressive list of assistant coaches we’ve had on The Farm.”
Anderson is a graduate of Virginia Tech from 2007 and coached for Radford and Virginia Tech before coming west to The Farm. She played for the Hokies from 2003-2007 and led them to four straight postseason appearances. She started coaching after her playing days were done in the AAU ranks, quickly rising to prominence.
Unsurprisingly, she led Virginia Tech to four straight postseason trips as a coach as well, including a trip to the WNIT Championship game in 2018.
“I have enjoyed getting to know Britney over the past two months,” said VanDerveer. “She joins our staff with a great deal of experience and the highest of recommendations. Britney brings a plethora of skills to our team, including her hard work and determination mixed with high level knowledge of the game. I am excited to welcome Britney to Stanford.”
We at Rule of Tree share that same sentiment. We’re excited to see what Britney and Katy can bring to the table, and as always, Go Card!
Comments
Can these two address the few weaknesses of Tara's program?
Tara mentions that the two new coaches are excellent recruiters, but that’s not really needed as long as Tara remains the coach. What is needed is more work on fundamentals. Both Steding and Anderson were very good players, so the hope is they can help in that area. Belibi and Dodson need to develop mid range jumpers. Everyone on the team needs to work on setting effective screens (Tara’s offense depends on this). Hannah Jump must develop a step back move to create space. Jenna Brown has to learn when a 5’10" guard can drive inside and when she shouldn’t. All but a few players need to get their free throw percentage higher (at least 80%).
There will be a women’s basketball season and the focus this year will be on beating Connecticut, Baylor, South Carolina, Oregon, and UCLA. With Anna Wilson returning, the Hull sisters, and the bigs inside, Stanford will be able to hold its own on defense against all these teams. So it will come down to executing on offense. Hopefully, these two new coaches can provide the needed instruction.
By SU74 on 06.18.20 8:54am