Event Details
About the event
What does it take to build a dynasty — and who gets to call it home?
Join us for an evening with Michelle Smith, sports journalist and 2025 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, in conversation with Charmin Smith, head coach of Cal Women's Basketball and former Stanford player under Tara VanDerveer. Together they'll trace VanDerveer's three-decade reign over Stanford women's basketball — three national championships, 14 Final Four appearances, and more wins than any coach, men's or women's, in NCAA history — and what it built far beyond the court.
In her new book, Life's Work, Michelle chronicles how a fledgling program became a powerhouse under VanDerveer's relentless standard. Charmin lived it from the inside, then carried it forward as the first Black head coach in Cal women's basketball history. Tonight, they'll connect that legacy to the moment we're in now: would the Bay Area have the Golden State Valkyries to cheer for without VanDerveer paving the way?
Your ticket includes:
- Behind-the-scenes conversation with sports journalist and Hall of Famer Michelle Smith and Cal Women’s Basketball Coach Charmin Smith
- Lite bites and pours of Book Society’s house red or white wine (NA option available)
- Book signing, community mingling and connection
The book will be available for pre-purchase at check-out. A limited number of copies will also be available to purchase at the event.
Get your ticket here! booksociety.social/event-details/womens-basketball-mania-the-story-of-legendary-coach-tara-vanderveer
About the Speakers
Michelle Smith, inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2025, has covered women's basketball for nearly three decades, a journey that began when she was assigned to report on her first Stanford women’s basketball game in 1995. She was the first-ever women’s basketball columnist for CBSSportsLine and ESPN.com, served as a Stanford beat writer for the San Francisco Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle, and has also written for publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, The Athletic and SLAM Magazine.
Charmin Smith is a trailblazing head coach for the Cal Bears women's basketball team. Smith, the first-ever Black head coach in program history. Smith is headed into her eighth season at Cal. As a standout player on the Stanford women’s basketball team, Smith was a crucial component of the team’s three NCAA Final Four Appearances and three Pac-10 Conference Championships between 1995 to 1997. Following her collegiate playing career, Smith joined the professional ranks in the ABL from 1997-98 as a member of the Portland Power and played three years in the WNBA, along with one year in the Swedish Basketball League