PISCATAWAY, NJ - JANUARY 20: Head coach C. Vivian Stringer of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Rutgers Athletic Center on January 20, 2020 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Benjamin Solomon/Getty Images) C.
Vivian Stringer has been a trailblazer, serving as a role model to many Black coaches and players throughout her 50-year career.The Hall of Fame coach announced her retirement on Saturday.She finished with 1,055 wins — fourth all-time among Division I women's basketball coaches behind Tara VanDerveer, Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt.Stringer made four Final Four appearances and reached the NCAA Tournament 28 times while leading Cheyney State, Iowa and Rutgers.
She was the first coach in men's or women's basketball to take three different teams to the national semifinals.Stringer was emotional when she talked to her team Friday night on a Zoom call."My life has been defined by coaching and I’ve been on this journey for over five decades," she said in a statement. "It is rare that someone gets to do what they love for this long and I have been fortunate to do that.
I love Rutgers University for the incredible opportunity they offered me and the tremendous victories we achieved together."When Stringer first broke into coaching in 1971 at Cheyney State, there were no other female Black coaches to look up to for advice.