MEDIA
• Tritoncast podcast (10/23/24)
• Tritoncast podcast (11/02/22)
• The Ultimate Assist: How Mentors and Mantras Have Impacted Heidi VanDerveer's Coaching Career (5/28/21)
• CBS Weekend News (3/21/21)
• NBC News: Mental Health (8/31/20)
• Facebook Live Interview (12/5/18)
• Union-Tribune Feature (1/18/17)
• Trending Now w/Kevin Acee (3/16/16)
• Trending Now w/Kevin Acee (3/07/16)
• Trending Now w/Kevin Acee (2/29/16)
• Mighty 1090 Interview (2/10/16)
• Mighty 1090 Interview (1/26/16)
Heidi VanDerveer enters her 14th season as head coach of the UC San Diego's women's basketball program in 2025-26, after being named the sixth coach in school history on May 25, 2012. A former WNBA coach, Olympic team scout and assistant for the legendary Pat Summitt at the University of Tennessee, VanDerveer has coached the likes of Sue Bird, Candace Parker, Lisa Leslie, Diana Taurasi and several other women's basketball superstars.
During her tenure, VanDerveer has coached the Tritons to six NCAA Tournament appearances (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2025), five conference championships (2016-2020) and four conference tournament titles (2013, 2019, 2020, 2025). UC San Diego has had five All-Americans, four conference players of the year and 36 all-conference honorees.
The 2024-25 season was a historic one for UC San Diego, as the Tritons earned their first NCAA Division I Tournament berth by winning the Big West Championship in Henderson, Nev. The Tritons entered the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed and defeated No. 8 Cal Poly, No. 1 Hawai‘i and No. 3 UC Davis in the finals for their first Big West crown. Sumayah Sugapong was named tournament MVP and Parker Montgomery and Gracie Gallegos earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Three Tritons earned All-Big West honors, including junior transfer Sabrina Ma who was named Newcomer of the Year and Honorable Mention, Sugapong (First Team) and Gallegos (Honorable Mention). UC San Diego became the first school ever to have both its men's and women's basketball teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament in their first season of D-I postseason eligibility.
In 2023-24, VanDerveer guided three Tritons to All-Big West selections, highlighted by Sumayah Sugapong as the 2023-24 Big West Freshman of the Year. Graduate student Denali Pinto was an All-Big West Honorable Mention and Gracie Gallegos joined Sugapong on the All-Freshman Team. Pinto, Izzy Forsyth and Katie Springs were named to the CSC Academic All-District Team and five scholar-athletes were named to the Big West All-Academic Team.
The 2022-23 season saw the Tritons earn a sixth-place finish in The Big West with a 10-10 record (13-17 overall) -- the second consecutive season with a .500 or better record in conference play. UC San Diego had three players earn All-Big West recognition, including Sydney Brown with her third consecutive second team accolade. Madison Baxter received the Big West Service and Leadership Award and joined Brown and Izzy Forsyth on the CSC Academic All-District Team. Eleven scholar-athlete's were also named to the Big West Commissioner's Honor Roll.
In 2021-22, VanDerveer led the Tritons to a fifth-place finish in the Big West with a 10-8 record (13-14 overall)—marking the program’s first winning conference record in year two of Division I competition. Three Tritons earned All-Big West honors, including Sydney Brown who was named to the All-Big West Second Team for the second consecutive season. Julia Macabuhay (honorable mention) and Aishah Brown (all-defense) also received all-conference recognition.
VanDerveer helped usher UC San Diego into the Division I era in 2021-22, leading the Tritons to a 6-9 mark in a conference-only schedule. UC San Diego finished eighth in the Big West, with two players earning all-conference recognition including Sydney Brown (second team) and Tyla Turner (Best Hustle Player, honorable mention). Madison Baxter was also a CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team selection. Under VanDerveer’s direction, the Tritons secured their first Division I victory on Jan. 2, 2021 over Cal Poly (74-63).
In 2019-20, VanDerveer led the Tritons to its second-consecutive California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament title for the first time in program history, as well as a share of the CCAA regular-season crown. Under VanDerveer, five players earned CCAA All-Conference honors, while Julia Macabuhay was named a Women's Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA) All-American. The Tritons were poised to compete in the NCAA West Regional before the season was ultimately cut short due to COVID-19.
VanDerveer was named WBCA West Region Coach of the Year for the second year in a row in 2018-19, as well as CCAA Coach of the Year for the fourth-straight season. The Tritons began the year with a program-record 30-game winning streak, won the CCAA regular-season title for the fourth-straight season and earned the CCAA Tournament championship. UC San Diego became the first CCAA team to finish the regular season undefeated and was ranked No. 2 in the WBCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll for seven-consecutive weeks. In the process, Mikayla Williams was named WBCA All-America First Team as well as CCAA Player of the Year, and was joined by Joleen Yang as First-Team All-CCAA.
In 2017-18, VanDerveer led the Tritons to a 28-5 overall record and 21-1 mark in conference play en route to earning WBCA West Region Coach of the Year honors. UC San Diego won the CCAA regular-season championship for the third-straight year, making its third-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Senior forward Dalayna Sampton was named CCAA Player of the Year and received both WBCA All-America Honorable Mention and Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (CCA) First-Team accolades. In addition, sophomore forward Mikayla Williams was an All-CCAA First-Team honoree and garnered D2CCA Second-Team recognition, while junior transfer Kayla Sato landed on the All-CCAA Second Team.
VanDerveer earned CCAA Coach of the Year honors for the second year in a row in 2016-17. The Tritons posted a 23-7 overall record and a 17-3 CCAA mark en route to a second-consecutive CCAA regular-season title and a No. 4-seed in the NCAA West Regional. UC San Diego had three players land on All-CCAA teams, including Beth Mounier, Dalayna Sampton and Cassie MacLeod. Sampton was also honored as CCAA Newcomer of the Year.
VanDerveer was named the 2015-16 CCAA Coach of the Year after guiding the Tritons to an 18-2 conference mark and a share of the CCAA regular season title. UC San Diego finished the season with a 26-5 overall record and made an appearance in the NCAA West Regional Final, one game shy of reaching the Elite Eight. UC San Diego had four players named All-CCAA in Beth Mounier, Taylor Tanita, Jamie Katuna and Farrah Shokoor. Shokoor was named conference Player of the Year, an All-American by both the WBCA and CCA, as well as an Academic All-American.
In 2014-15, VanDerveer coached UC San Diego to an 18-10 record and 16-6 mark in the conference, finishing fourth in the CCAA and qualifying for the conference tournament. Farrah Shokoor earned All-CCAA First-Team honors while Miranda Seto and McKennan Bertsch were named honorable mention. In addition, Shokoor was honored with a spot on the Daktronics All-West Region Second Team.
In 2013-14, VanDerveer led UC San Diego to a 16-11 overall record as Miranda Seto and Erin Dautremont earned All-CCAA accolades.
In her first season leading the Tritons in 2012-13, VanDerveer's team posted a 22-11 overall record and placed second in the CCAA with a 17-5 mark. UC San Diego won its first-ever CCAA Tournament championship and qualified for NCAA postseason play for the eighth time since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 2000. Daisy Feder was named the CCAA's Most Valuable Player, while Erin Dautremont and Emily Osga joined her as league first-team selections. Feder also earned Daktronics All-West Region First Team accolades.
VanDerveer came to La Jolla following an impressive stint at Division III Occidental, where she compiled an overall record of 84-25 (.771) and led the Tigers to four straight Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) titles during her four seasons. She also guided Occidental to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances -- including the program's first-ever NCAA berth in her first season in 2008-09. VanDerveer went 50-6 (.893) in SCIAC play, amassing the highest conference winning percentage of any coach in league history. She coached three all-conference selections in 2011-12, including SCIAC Player of the Year Makenzie Brandon, who led the league in scoring at 18.1 points per game.
VanDerveer has over two decades of experience at both the collegiate and professional levels. She began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Tennessee under Summit in 1986 and helped guide the Lady Volunteers to the 1987 NCAA National Championship and a Final Four appearance in 1988.
She then spent six seasons as an assistant at the University of South Carolina from 1988-94, where she helped lead the Gamecocks to three NCAA Tournament appearances.
VanDerveer served as the head women's basketball coach at Eastern Washington University for three seasons from 1994-97. Her tenure was highlighted by back-to-back Big Sky Conference Tournament appearances in 1995 and 1996.
After her stint at Eastern Washington, VanDerveer spent 12 years working in the WNBA, beginning with an assistant coaching position with the Sacramento Monarchs in 1997. She was later promoted to head coach before the 1998-99 season and went on to work with the Minnesota Lynx as both an assistant (1999-2002) and head coach (2002). She was an WNBA scout from 2003-05 and served as an assistant with the Seattle Storm in 2006 and 2007.
VanDerveer moved back to the collegiate ranks as an assistant at the University of San Francisco in 2004-05 and was named the head coach of the program just four games into the season. She also served as the video coordinator for two seasons under her Hall of Fame big sister Tara VanDerveer at Stanford, and was the associate head coach at San Diego State under longtime Aztecs coach Beth Burns for one season prior to taking the job at Occidental.
In addition to her collegiate and professional experience, VanDerveer worked with USA Basketball as a scout for the 2006 World Championship team and the 2008 World Qualifying Tournament. Most recently, she served as a scout for the 2008 Olympic Team that won a Gold medal in Beijing.
VanDerveer graduated from the College of Charleston with a Bachelor's Degree in political science in 1986 and went on to earn her Master's in physical education and sports psychology from the University of Tennessee in 1988. She was a four-year letterwinner on the basketball team at Charleston and served as a team captain as a junior and a senior.
