Rutgers' coach Stringer brings class to Class of '09

C. Vivian Stringer has won more than 800 games in her college coaching career, putting her third on the NCAA Division I all-time list. She is the first coach to take three different schools to the Final Four (Cheyney State, the University of Iowa and Rutgers University). She's also appeared in 21 NCAA Tournaments and coached in nine Tournament regional finals.

With Rutgers, Stringer is 284-132 (.683) in 13 seasons. The Scarlet Knights were ranked No. 7 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 6 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll last season. Under her tutelage, Rutgers picked up its sixth straight 20-win season in 2008-09 and its 10th overall.

Stringer's performance-driven program has catapulted players such as Shawnetta Stewart, Usha Gilmore, Tammy Sutton-Brown, Tasha Pointer, Davalyn Cunningham, Chelsea Newton, Rebecca Richman, Cappie Pondexter, Matee Ajavon and Essence Carson into the WNBA Draft.

Stringer, 804-267 (.751) overall, took her skills to the international level as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Team in 1980, when the team took home the bronze. In 2004, with a dream team of WNBA superstars, Stringer took home the gold as an assistant coach.

Stringer was one of the key players in the development of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Her mission to preserve the identity of women's basketball was evident in 2007, when a radio shock jock's racist remarks about Rutgers players was met by Stringer with a signature dignity and composure.

Stringer is not only respected by her players but by her peers, who have voted her National Coach of the Year three times. She also was voted 1993 Coach of the Year by Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Converse, the Los Angeles Times and the Black Coaches Association. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001 for her integral role as a pioneer in the game.