C. Vivian Stringer named 2020 Wooden “Legends of Coaching” honoree
By Ben Rosof
An honor for the returning trailblazer
C. Vivian Stringer, head coach of Rutgers women’s basketball, was announced as the recipient of the 2020 John R. Wooden Award’s “Legends of Coaching” honor on Tuesday.
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The selection was announced by Wooden’s grandson-in-law, Craig Impleman, at the Wooden Award Tip-off Luncheon in Los Angeles. Stringer will be honored during the Wooden Award Weekend from April 9-10, 2020, which recognizes the best players and coaches in men’s and women’s college basketball.
Originally adopted by the Wooden Award Steering Community in 1999, the “Legends of Coaching” recognition is awarded to those emblematic of John Wooden’s standards of coaching success and integrity. Winners are chosen on the basis of their character, on-court success, student athletes’ graduation rate and alignment with the goals of the Wooden Award.
Stringer becomes the fourth woman to receive the award, as well as the second African-American and inaugural African-American woman to do so. Former women’s basketball honorees include Notre Dame’s Muffet McGraw in 2017, Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer in 2014, Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma in 2012 and Tennessee’s Pat Summitt in 2008.
The 2019-2020 season will mark Coach Stringer’s 25th year at the helm the Scarlet Knights, and her 49th year of coaching overall.
Stringer’s storied career began at Cheyney University, where she coached the Wolves to the inaugural women’s basketball NCAA National Championship game. After leaving in 1983, she coached the Iowa Hawkeyes until 1995 before arriving in Piscataway.
Stringer was the first coach in men’s or women’s college basketball history to reach the Final Four with three different schools. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009, joining fellow Wooden Award honorees Michael Jordan and David Robinson.
The most recent season was an eventful one for Stringer, as she picked up her 1000th career victory as a head coach after a win against Central Connecticut State on November 13, 2018. However, after missing a game at Michigan on February 21, 2019, it was announced that Stringer would miss the remainder of the regular season, as well as Rutgers’ brief stint in the NCAA Tournament, due to health complications.
The accomplished leader will return to the sidelines for the upcoming season.
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