NCAA: Rutgers’ Vivian Stringer gets 900th Win

C. Vivian Stringer, who has been coaching women’s collegiate basketball for 42 years, starting at Cheyney State College (PA) in 1972 and currently in her 18th season at Rutgers, picked up win number 900 on Tuesday when her club downed South Florida, 68:56. Stringer joins six others in NCAA Division 1 history to have recorded 900 wins: on the women’s side, Pat Summitt (1,098), Sylvia Hatchell (904) and Jody Conradt (900); and on the men’s side, Mike Krzyzewski (951), Jim Boeheim (911) and Bob Knight (900). Stringer’s career record now stands at 900-330.

“When I look back on my life, this team, probably this year, best reflects what 900 has been,” said Stringer, the first coach in men’s or women’s basketball to take three different schools to the Final Four, including Rutgers in 2000 and 2007. “It helped me to remember that it was never easy. But unless you really have a passion, unless you really know how fortunate you are not to have had a lot of major injuries to a lot of players, which is what happened to this team, and unless you remember how fortunate you are to be able to get to those special places.”

She was the first coach in men’s or women’s basketball history to take three different schools to the Final Four (Cheyney in 1982, Iowa in 1993 and Rutgers, in 2000 and again in 2007).

Stringer was elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2009 along with Michael Jordan, John Stockton, David Robinson and long-time Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. She was elected to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.

• Third-winningest women’s coach all-time, second among
  active head coaches – 900 wins
• Fourth women’s coach to record 900 wins
• Eighth coach (men’s or women’s) to record 800 wins,
  third woman to achieve the feat
• Has 31 20-win seasons during her career
• Appearances in 24 of 30 NCAA Tournaments,
  including 10 regional finals
• 2004 U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist (Assistant Coach)

 C. Vivian Stringer’s Coaching Career