SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — She sat right next to Tex Winter and a few seats down from Dennis Rodman, Teresa Edwards and Arvydas Sabonis, so, yes, Tara VanDerveer definitely got a sense of the full scope and dizzying variety of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2011.

“A class so exciting I think I’m going to go out and get a tattoo,” VanDerveer joked during the official news conference, a day before Friday’s induction ceremonies.

But VanDerveer, a two-time national champion at Stanford, fit right in.

She donned the ceremonial blue blazer, helped to steady Winter, the strategic innovator who suffered a serious stroke recently, smiled at Rodman’s get-up, and later reminisced about all the time she spent in this city as a child.

Interesting journey, right back to Springfield, huh?

“It’s amazing, really,” VanDerveer said after the news conference. “My parents met at Springfield College — they have a picture of the first time they met. It’s a little surreal to be honest with you to come back, I think for my mom especially. It’s quite an experience for her. …

“My mother grew up here. … We lived in Schenectady, New York, so we came back to Springfield every Thanksgiving, I would say, for 10 years. My cousins all live here still.”

VanDerveer was the second-to-last inductee introduced (right before Winter) on Thursday, which meant she got to watch Rodman sally up there in what appeared to be a black

camisole and sweatpants.

Who knows what Rodman will say, wear or do Friday night, but VanDerveer seemed to enjoy the early run-through for everybody.

“I think it was a kind of a nice dress rehearsal, actually,” VanDerveer said. “You hear everyone speak, you kind of get a little idea of what’s coming.”

VanDerveer also talked about her connection to fellow inductee Chris Mullin, who, in the early stages of his Warriors career, occasionally came down to Stanford with then-Warriors trainer Mark Grabow to run drills with her team.

“I would call Mark and say I’m interested in learning some new drills, and Mark would say, ‘I’ll be over tomorrow with Chris Mullin,’ ” VanDerveer said.

“Chris would do the drills for me, and then he’d play with our team. He was awesome. … I remember players were very excited that he was in the gym playing with them. They were just, ‘Wow, we’re playing with Chris Mullin.’ “