Yonkman Elevated To Assistant Coach
Dec 31 | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Head coach C. Vivian Stringer has announced that Betsy Yonkman will take over assistant coaching duties for Tasha Pointer, who welcomed daughter Anaiah to the world this past weekend.
"Betsy was one of the original members of the staff in this era of Rutgers women's basketball. She has tremendous knowledge not only of the game, but how we liked to have it played here at Rutgers," said Stringer. "She understands philosophically what we are trying to do and our ladies know her and respect her. It is a natural fit."
Yonkman has spent 14 seasons "On The Banks" including the first six seasons of Stringer's tenure as an assistant and recruiting coordinator from 1995-2001. Following stints at Missouri and San Francisco, Yonkman rejoined the Scarlet Knight staff in 2007 as the Assistant to the Head Coach, overseeing scouting and video for the team.
While an assistant on the Scarlet Knights staff, Rutgers women's basketball compiled a 124-64 record and advanced to four-consecutive NCAA berths, including a Sweet Sixteen showing in 1998, an Elite Eight nod in 1999 and a Final Four appearance in 2000.
Yonkman also served as the associate head coach at Missouri for four seasons from 2001-05, where she helped lead the Tigers to three-consecutive postseason appearances and coached four future WNBA draft choices, and spent the 2005-06 season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of San Francisco.
Beginning her collegiate coaching career at Eastern Michigan in 1987, Yonkman spent four seasons in Ypsilanti before returning to her alma mater, Central Michigan in 1991. She worked four seasons with the Chippewas, serving as the recruiting coordinator.
A four-year letterwinner at CMU, Yonkman was a team captain and led the Chippewas to a pair of MAC Championships (1984, 1985), MAC Tournament titles and NCAA berths (1983, 1984). She litters the CMU record books in multiple categories and was a two-time All-Mid-American Conference First Team selection and was one of just three players in CMU history to earn all-league honors more than once. She led CMU in scoring two seasons, averaging 16.3 points each year. On the all-time program list, Yonkman ranks fourth in scoring (1,495 points) and is among the top all-time rebounders with 734 career boards. She was inducted into the Central Michigan Athletic Hall of Fame in October 2007. In 2008, she was selected as one of the Top-35 athletes ever to compete - in all sports played in Rose Arena at CMU.
The Rutgers women's basketball team (10-2 overall, 1-0 Big Ten), ranked at No. 16 in this week's Associated Press Poll and No. 17 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, wraps up a three-game roadstand at Ohio State on New Year's Day. The game is set for 2 p.m. and will be streamed on BTN Plus.
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