Stringer to Deliver Keynote Speech at Rutgers-Camden Commencement
May 04 | Women's Basketball
CAMDEN, NJ – Rutgers-New Brunswick women’s basketball head coach C. Vivian Stringer will deliver the keynote speech at the Rutgers-Camden Commencement Friday, May 19. The ceremony, which will begin at 6:00 p.m. at the Tweeter Center, will award nearly 750 undergraduate and graduate degrees to members of the College of Arts and Sciences, University College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Social Work.
The first coach in men’s or women’s basketball to take three different schools to the Final Four (Cheyney University in 1982, The University of Iowa in 1993 and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in 2000), Stringer has been a pioneer, visionary and innovator during her three decades on the sideline.
Stringer, who finished her 34th season (2005-2006) with a 750-251 (.749) overall record and a 230-116 (.665) mark in her 11 seasons at Rutgers, became the third women’s coach to notch 750 career Division I victories when her Scarlet Knights defeated TCU 82-48 in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament March 21. She moved into sole possession of third place on the Division I women’s victories list (709) with a 71-60 triumph at No. 14/13 Boston College Jan. 26, 2005.
Named one of the “101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports” by Sports Illustrated in 2003, Stringer continues to be one of the most recognized coaches in the game. A recipient of the Black Coaches Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, and she helped lead Team USA to a gold medal as an assistant coach for the 2004 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team in Athens, Greece. The 2005 BIG EAST Coach of the Year, Stringer was inducted into the New Jersey Sports Hall of Fame in October of 2005.
She has led her teams to 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, including eight of the last nine years, and has coached in seven regional finals. Last season (2005-2006), RU posted a 27-5 overall record and a perfect 16-0 slate in BIG EAST Conference play, winning its second straight league regular-season title. The Scarlet Knights advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament, and finished ninth in the final top-25 polls.
In recognition of her many accomplishments and service to the game, Stringer was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame June 9, 2001, in Knoxville, TN. When one looks at her plaque, a pattern quickly develops -- three programs, three Final Fours, three national coach-of-the-year awards and three decades as one of women’s basketball’s leading voices for equality, innovation and growth.
Stringer has been named the National Coach of the Year three times (Wade Trophy -- 1982, Converse -- 1988 and Naismith -- 1993) by her peers, an honor that is the pinnacle of achievement in her book. She also was named the 1993 Coach of the Year by Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Converse, the Los Angeles Times and the Black Coaches Association; the 2000 Female Coach of the Year by the Rainbow/PUSH Organization, a group founded by Rev. Jesse Jackson; the District V Coach of the Year in 1985, 1988 and 1993; the District I Coach of the Year in 1998; the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1991 and 1993; the BIG EAST Coach of the Year in 1998 and 2005; and the 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2006 Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Coach of the Year. One of her most personally-gratifying accolades is the 1993 Carol Eckman Award, which acknowledges the coach demonstrating spirit, courage, integrity, commitment, leadership and service to the game of women’s basketball.
