Behold, the New King of College Hoops?

The Story: With Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer announcing late Tuesday that she’s retiring after 45 seasons, Geno Auriemma needs to win just four games next season in order to pass her for the most wins ever in major college basketball.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: VanDerveer said goodbye yesterday at an emotional press conference in which she said her retirement “kind of just came together.” She walks away from the game after spending 38 seasons and winning three national championships with the Cardinal, and after winning 1,216 games with Idaho, Ohio State and Stanford.

• VanDerveer was celebrated in January when she passed Mike Krzyzewski with her 1,203rd victory — a milestone Geno also passed nearly a month later.

• With Stanford losing in the Sweet 16 and UConn reaching the Final Four, Geno now has 1,213 wins, all at UConn. If the schedule breaks the way it usually does for the Huskies, Geno will hit the all-time wins mark before the calendar turns to December.

• UConn has gone 12-7 all time against Stanford, with all meetings coming while Geno and VanDerveer were on the sidelines. The Huskies beat the Cardinal in the Final Four in 1995, 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2022, and in the national championship game in 2010.

WHAT DID GENO SAY? “Obviously, it’s a monumental day in women’s basketball, and in basketball in general. When you’ve coached for this extended period of time and you’ve accomplished what Tara’s accomplished, it has an incredible effect on the basketball community. The number of wins, the national championships, the Hall of Fame. She’s had an incredible career and she’s left a great impact on the sport. It’s been exciting to compete against her all these years. Congratulations to Tara, and I’m sure she’ll enjoy the next phase of her life.”

THE ELDER STATESMAN: VanDerveer turns 71 in June, while Geno turned 70 three weeks ago. The reality is that if he surpasses VanDerveer and claims the wins mark, he likely won’t pad his victory total by very much.

• However, Geno will likely reign for a long time, considering no Division I coach, in the men’s or women’s game, is close enough or young enough to match it.

• The interesting twist is that after Geno won his 1,200th game in early February, he didn’t think he’d catch VanDerveer. “I could probably say, with a great deal of certainty, that I’ll never be No. 1 in wins,” he said. “I don’t think that will happen”

• Geno also spoke a little about his own retirement earlier in late January, when the Huskies played at Villanova, and said that he would prefer to avoid having a farewell tour and just slip into the night like former Villanova men’s basketball coach Jay Wright did (and now the way VanDerveer did).

• Is this the end of Stanford as a women’s basketball power? Although longtime assistant Kate Paye is in negotiations to take over, Stanford has to contend with difficult admission standards. Plus, it’s rumored that VanDerveer didn’t like the prospect of all the cross-country flights that will come with joining the ACC next season, though she said it wasn’t a factor during her press conference yesterday afternoon.

• What we know is that the game has lost one of its greats. Here’s to Tara VanDerveer on whatever it is she decides to do next.

— Zac Boyer

Morning Reads

• Kevin Ollie, now the Nets' interim coach, said he's happy UConn continues to dominate in men's basketball. "Just to see them and what Dan Hurley's done, and an amazing coaching staff and the players, just to continue the domination is great."

• Another game, another blowout for the baseball team, which hammered Maine 20-2 yesterday at Elliot Ballpark behind home runs from Jake Studley, Bryan Padilla, Luke Broadhurst and Maddix Dalena.

Top photo: Geno Auriemma is seen during the Huskies’ game against Dayton. (Courtesy of UConn athletics)