The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 23, 1994, Page 11, Image 11
Wednesday, March 23, 1994
Story of S
From staff reports VanD<
In the "Frontline" broadcast "In the basketbi
Game," which will air at 9 p.m. Tues- eluding
day on PBS, producer Becky Smith ans and
goes behind the scenes of the Stan- players
ford University women's basketball scheme,
team to tell the story of the team, its I Jennifi
coach and the season it set out to win foundati
the biggest dream in college sports: a guard, Je
| national championship. three-po
- "When we began filming the Stan- "JenniJ
ford women's basketball team's '89- said, "a
'90 season, there was a feeling this Jennifer
team was special, but certainly no they'd w
guarantee they could pull it off," she grad
Smith said. Katy S
- "Their gritty, dramatic journey to chance
the championship became, in the strong-wi
end, an amazing fairy tale. More im- her from
portantly, it also came to symbolize forward,
the potential of all women athletes Sonja 1
when given an opportunity to get in ning on
the game." cruited a
Smith's six-month record of the "Anyo
9 "miracle season" captures the team's and kno
spirit and determination, details coach VanDerv*
Tara VanDerveer's strategy and tenac- Trisha
ity and chronicles the grueling twists center wi
and turns on the road to the title. ble knee
mL _ t % i . i. _ r. _ r ? t
ine story Denina tne dtaniora season, i
women's achievement began even be- have a sh
fore VanDerveer arrived. Andy Geiger, Val Wh
athletic director at Stanford in the Derveer'j
1980s, was one of the first directors "Val hi
to aim for across-the-board athletic ex- body: 6-a
cellence, including women. has an el<
"I love women's athletics like I love To con
men's," he said. "I don't see a differ- coach ne<
ence." er to cor
I Geiger convinced VanDerveer, the play,
winning coach of Ohio State's "In the
women's basketball team, to come to sonal sto
Stanford to take over a team whose cruits: he
previous two-season record had been ball for th
14 wins, 42 losses. they conf
VanDerveer wanted not only to win female in
but to put women's basketball on the "Basket
map. Her strategy was to create an ed liking
athletic, entertaining game: playing VanDervi
fast break, foil court, slick passing bas- trating n
ketball with long range, three-point boys had.
shooting. In mosi
For this plan, she needed a high-oc- differenc<
tane team. And this was a challenge at "My pa
\ a brainy university like Stanford, you to di
which honored the scholar-athlete "They we
ideal. had two 1
"In the Game" details how Van- letic, and
Derveer and her two assistant coach- As the
es embarked on cross-country re- Game" ch
cruiting. practices
"She brought the most aggressive of the co;
recruiting style and energy I'd ever condition
seen put on by any coach," Geiger showdo\
^said. Washing
> ^11
RADICAL, m
I
HThe 6amccoi
tanforcl champi
irveer assembled not only a trounced by 40 points earlier in the
ill team of overachievers, in- season; and VanDerveer's hard-driving
two high school valedictori- push to meld her superstar recruits,
four straight-A students, but "She is very concerned with our
who would fit her grand team playing as a team and one person
spoiling that," Henning said. "She
sr Azzi, the first recruit and a wouldn't tolerate it...People are exon
for the team. An athletic pendable "
nnifer became one of the top FinaHy tracking the climactic
n'nf chnnfprc in fnp rnnnfrv
"VVT ^ games, "In the Game" shows the spir- T mm
fer was like me, VanDerveer -I .1 . c _ , . . mm
risk taker." The coach told "^sumutaofateamphtymgm.the JM
that if she came to Stanford, <te of final exam* conttnuaUy shad- U
in the championship before owed by mjunes and dnven by an unuate(j
relenting coach. a
teding. VanDerveer took a "You must nt this 8ame so bad* EJI
on this athletic, moody, lY" VanDerveer told the players inside Mg
illed, 6-footer and developed the locker room during the final
a small center into a power game. "They're not willing to work as WT
hard you will for it." 1 Jfl
Penning. A star student plan- Stanford's championship win is an s^jj
law school, Sonja was re- extraordinary emotional one, not onyear
after Jennifer and Katy. ly for the team, but because just two | i
ne could watch Sonja play days earlier the University of Okla- |p^
w she was a great player," homa announced it was abolishing its
ser said. women's basketball program, at a
Stevens. A powerful 6-foot-3 time when less than 10 percent of the
ith a beautiful shot but terri- university's sports budget was going
s, Trisha almost sat out the to women>s sp0rts.
>ut the team needed her to "jt feeis a majQr slap in the face
.ot at the tit e. and a major step backward," Vanuting,
the final piece in Van- ~ .. . . c
5'. v Derveer said dunng a press confer*
PflfP
is what I would call an NBA ' ,
!, strong, quick ...She really ., Forhera"d oiher women athletes,
ectrifying presence." lts 1 remtnder that even though Tide
tpete with the top teams, the Ix- a 21-year-old federal law, bans
eds this aggressive rebound- gender discrimination in federally
nplement Trisha's finesse funded schools, women's athletics still
have second-class status at the major- 2
: Game" highlights the per- ity of schools.
ry of the coach and her re- According to the 1992 NCAA Gen- Ji
>w they came to play basket- der-Equity Study, 70 percent of ath- Ijii
le love of the game and how letic scholarships funds, 77 percent of
ironted discrimination being operating budgets and 83 percent of
a nontraditional sport. recruiting money goes to men's proball
is something I just start- grams.
in about the fourth grade," in an epilogue, "In the Game" tells
:er said. "It was really frus- what has happened to the coach and
ot having the chance that p|ayers sjnce their championship sea..We
had no coaching." son
t cases, parents made all the ?The s(ory of this Kam ? a grcat
j twr ? American story, showing how hard
rents never said, We want . . ,. .. ' , , . ,
a this or that," Azzi said. 7?*- dedication to a shared goal and
re always supportive. They fa'th ?> oneself can lead to great
ittle girls that were very ath- achievements, a theme that tranI
that didn't bother them." scends SP005 " "Fromline" senior proseason
progresses, "In the ducer Martin Smith said. It is also a
iarts the struggles: grueling f*fm tba* P?ses important questions
and workouts that are part aoout tne oDstacies tacing women s I
ich's goal to have the best- teams which continue to fight for suped
team in the country; the port and promotion.'1 Jennifi
vn with the University of "In the Game" is produced by wi^ ***
ton, a team Stanford had Becky Smith. and th<
. ' J.. ^ ; r/\ ,
mmm Carolina C
|S|99 W=< Associatio:
HEART To HEART The(
WSmm M^Father' s 'ai
'World p
GUEST SPEAKER SUppC
. 1?^ Rudy I religi(
f ThUfS" Mar- 24' 7:00 pm Chapl
JIIb .:: t Baptist Student Union availa
|A( 700 Pickens St. 799-3854 and S[
St. Thomas More
j Catholic Center fcM
Masses Sun. llam, 6pm, 9:30 pm
Mon.-Thurs. 12:15 pm. Sat. 8am
Newman Club Meetings 1 ilC i*pi
* '? Tues. 7pm
Bible Study THt
Confession 2-3pm on Sat. Ci
or by appointment
1610 Greene St. 799-5870 Rev.;
(across from the School of Nursing)
Dinner and Program 728^
Making Easter Baskets z K
?gL I - < '*<m> $Q- - for Columbia's Homeless Children
Tuesday, Mar.29 at 6pm Dinr
Presbyterian J
HRB JjflJ $ Student Center
la>Sta&&M'ilWV'.??? 1702 Greene St. 799-0212
A
ck
onship to
Wmm, mm ^Rr
M|f ^ . ^p M flk JHj^S
9H^^| ^HE M ' j
Hi * / 5IL& III \i
|||MBm?
SP*
>
4rt v
:r Azzi and Sonja Henning are two stars of the 1990 S
at 9 p.m. Tuesday on PBS, producer Becky Smith tak
e season they achieved the biggest dream in college s]
^B <3 O R1
Pres
S for y<
112 ?3A o
ranization STA TRAVEL [ ?
I
???? f*
!haplains i
n ?
0
? (HWY.
Carolina a
lains Association ?
fb
r'Un-UJ-. UDiarj
v^aiunua \^napiaiii5 . ???
nation promotes
jration and r
vship as the 4 -p-* 1
lation of the XvCcll ^
>ity of religious life
-olina. | j
tssociation members
irt the role of healthy /
)us development as
ificant part of
r education. GC
)f the chaplains and CF(EAS
elors of the Carolina ,i. country B
ains Association are
ble for counseling * Home Coo
Jiritual guidance. < Fresh Veg<
???????? 4* Sandwich(
_ 4 Steaks an<
I The Canterbury
Community, USC Open 7 d;
scopal Church on Campus Breakfast, Lur
irsday Program
- n 1 r- tuiu ^arryipperat7:15
pm
Trinity Cathedral 921 Sui
Cornell Arr
Rich Biega, 771-7300 (across frorr
Campus
Ministry
Partnership Among
^ Lutherans and Methodists T^llXr _ _ _
:ns St. 799-4993 799-7363 ^ f
Body & s?ul (Does
ter, Devotion & Program riff
"An Evening with O11
mbia Mayor Bob Coble" & All day Sa
Vednesday, 5:30 pm ^
orship and Dinner A*lZ&lClS
Sunday, 5:30 pm
II Are Welcome! fllCl
' Offer Valid a
n_
air Tuesday
\%\ sms^^rff jmm
\m\ m^mf &m M^* jf^&
\m\ jh mm -'hl r jmm^w
\m\ w ^ . If?* "
^ 1File
photo
tanford women's basketball team. In "In the Game," which
:es a behind-the-scenes look at the Stanford team, its coach
>orts: a national championship.
?if
OLI--FRBR KOQROl.L?FRKB BOOHOLl.
sent your USC ID g
rviii~ F?frt>*vA 1 k $
* 5,
n. a
f olf<3^,. ?
8
|
,S^?<V (sU ^ gjj
135 SUNSET BLVD. g
378) Just across the Gervais St. Bridge
Call: 791-4060
1 lam - 9:30pm 7 days a week
with meal purchase expires 4-30-94 fid jtJ
>LL?FRBB eOOROLL^B
I
Country Cooking^ j
:afd's m j
Thicket j
inn crnnn Am $
'v/iy l" VJKJLJ I\ If
ON ABLE |
is and Salads
j Seafood
:
iys a week
ich and Dinner
; Catering J?
out Service ?
mter
ns Building ^?'" \
i Horseshoe) /
mi 5
J""""lli"" i
AtMiVAFiZiHni'jninifl
IBa&HlSumal
meal and get a second meal
[ual or lesser value FREE
not include beverages or desserts)
er good weekdays 4pm- 10pm
t. & Sun. (Breakfast, Lunch & Supper)
921 Sumter St.
Cornell Arms Buildimi
tet (across from Horseshoe)
it Cornell Arms Location Only Expires 3-31-94