Things are looking very different for Stanford these days, but as she steps into her first year as head coach, Kate Paye is not lowering expectations for one of the most successful West Coast teams in women's college basketball history.
"I think one thing I try to focus on is leaning into continuity. There are a lot of things changing out there, but we are trying," Paye told CBS Sports. "We have the same values that we've always had: hard work, unselfishness, toughness, togetherness. Our goals have not changed. That is to win a conference championship, go to the Final Four, win a national championship."
A conference championship in their first year in the ACC while they were voted to finish seventh? A Final Four without Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer? Yes, Paye believes all of that is possible.
"We know it's a journey and it's about improving," Paye said. "We have high goals and we feel like if we can stay healthy, stay happy and stay hungry, we can achieve them."
So far, the journey is off to a good start. In Paye's head coaching debut on Monday, Stanford beat Le Moyne 107-43 while registering a school-record 18 3-pointers. The Cardinal worked well together and recorded 25 assists against just six turnovers.
VanDerveer, the winningest coach in NCAA history, retired earlier this year, leaving Paye in charge as the Cardinal start a new chapter in the ACC after dominating the Pac-12 for decades. Although VanDerveer is gone, Paye has been with the program for 17 years, eight of those as an associate head coach. The rest of the coaching staff stayed, which Paye said helps provide a sense of continuity for the Cardinal.
Paye's strategy is focusing on what she learned from VanDerveer.
"One of the many things I learned from Tara is constantly looking for ways to improve, ways to get better," Paye said. "I really look at it as we just continue that kind of philosophy. There is no sitting back and just doing the same thing. There is change. We are going to face new opponents, new ways of traveling. We have a new roster this year, different strengths. We are really just focused on our team and ways to get better and improve more than quote-unquote putting my stamp on anything."
The biggest questions are not necessarily about the new leadership, but more so who the star player will be now that Cameron Brink has moved on to the WNBA and Kiki Iriafen transferred to USC.
The Cardinal are not returning any double-digit scorers, and this uncertainty has led to Stanford not being ranked in the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since 1999. It's unusual territory for this program, but Paye said they are not giving it much thought.
"We really don't pay attentions to rankings. I've been doing this a long time. Rankings are just somebody else's opinions and it's not the start of the race, but the finish that counts," Paye said. "We've had years when we were ranked high and we underachieved. We've had years when not much has been expected of us and we come out and win a national championship. We don't really talk about (the rankings) at all. We just focus on getting better today."
Paye said this is going to be a very balanced team compared to recent years. Seniors Brooke Demetre and Elena Bosgana are the returners with the most experience, and junior Talana Lepolo has also been a key part of the program.
Demetre, Paye said, is stepping up into a more vocal role, but there is not going be just one leader on the team.
"In the past couple of years, maybe everybody knew where we were trying to throw the ball," Paye said. "This year, what I'm seeing in practice is the ball moving really well, not sticking in anybody's hands, a lot of extra passes. I think this could be a team where we have a different scorer every night, and our team is totally fine with that, very unselfish."
Paye raved about how transfers Mary Ashley Stevenson (Purdue) and Tess Heal (Santa Clara) bring "tremendous experience and maturity" and will make an "immediate impact" on the court.
Even the freshmen are expected to contribute. Paye described Shay Ijiwoye as a "really quick" point guard and highlighted Kennedy Umeh's 6-foot-4 frame. Meanwhile, she said Harper Peterson has already shown she can be a very versatile player.
While a lot of things have changed at Stanford, its core value remains the same.
"Sisterhood. Uphold the sisterhood," Paye said. "It's how we define our culture... That is what our team identified with all this change. Their one overarching goal for this upcoming season is to uphold the sisterhood. It's obviously a great tradition, a great legacy for Stanford women's basketball. Our team is following in the footsteps of greatness, but they are all prepared and excited about the challenge and opportunity to write their own story and leave their own legacy."
