LOS ANGELES, CA (October 1, 2019) – C. Vivian Stringer, Rutgers University’s Women’s Basketball Coach, will receive the John R. Wooden Award®’s “Legends of Coaching™” honor in 2020. Coach Wooden’s grandson-in-law Craig Impleman was proud to announce her selection at the Los Angeles Athletic Club’s annual Wooden Award Tip-Off Luncheon. The luncheon features the head coaches from the Division I men’s basketball programs in Southern California. The “Legends of Coaching” honor recognizes coaches who exemplify Coach Wooden’s high standard of coaching success and personal integrity.
The “Legends of Coaching” award was adopted by the Wooden Award Steering Committee in 1999. The honorees are selected based on character, success on the court, graduation rate of student-athletes in their basketball program, coaching philosophy, and identification with the goals of the John R. Wooden Award. Coach Stringer will be recognized during the Wooden Award Weekend April 9-10, 2020, as a part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club’s celebration of the greatest players and coaches in men’s and women’s college basketball. She will be awarded the honor during the 6th Annual ESPN College Basketball Awards on April 10, 2020.
Coach Stringer has 48 years of head coaching experience, including 24 years as the head coach of Rutgers University. She led Cheyney University to the first-ever NCAA National Championship game in women’s college basketball and became the first coach in men’s or women’s basketball history to take three different schools to the Final Four. During the 2018-19 season, she became the fifth coach in NCAA Division I women’s basketball to surpass the 1,000 career win milestone and currently ranks sixth all-time. In 2009, Coach Stringer was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in a class that included Wooden Award winners Michael Jordan (1984-North Carolina) and David Robinson (1987-Navy).
A noted administrator, Stringer was instrumental in the development of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund, created in the fall of 2007. The Foundation, in partnership with the V Foundation for Cancer Research, is an initiative to fight breast cancer. She also serves on the U.S. Department of State’s Council to Empower Women and Girls Through Sports.
John R. Wooden Award
Legends of Coaching Honorees
2020 C. Vivian Stringer, Rutgers
2019 Lon Kruger, Oklahoma
2018 Jay Wright, Villanova
2017 Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame
2016 Tubby Smith, Texas Tech
2015 Steve Fisher, San Diego State
2014 Tara VanDerveer, Stanford
2013 Bill Self, Kansas
2012 Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
2011 Tom Izzo, Michigan State
2010 Billy Donovan, Florida
2009 Rick Barnes, Texas
2008 Pat Summitt, Tennessee
2007 Gene Keady, Purdue
2006 Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
2005 Jim Calhoun, Connecticut
2004 Mike Montgomery, Stanford
2003 Roy Williams, Kansas
2002 Denny Crum, Louisville
2001 Lute Olson, Arizona
2000 Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
1999 Dean Smith, North Carolina
About the John R. Wooden Award
Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award Program hosts the most prestigious honors in college
basketball recognizing The Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player for men and women, The Wooden Award All America Teams for men and women and the annual selection of the Wooden Award Legend of Coaching recipient. Honorees have proven to their university that they meet or exceed the qualifications of the John R. Wooden Award as set forth by Coach Wooden and the Wooden Award Steering Committee, including making progress towards graduation and maintaining at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA. Previous winnersinclude Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), Tim Duncan (’97), Kevin Durant (’07), Candace Parker (’07; ’08), Maya Moore (’09; ’11), Chiney Ogwumike (’14), and last year’s recipients, Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon and Zion Williamson of Duke.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to the universities’ general scholarship fund in the names of the Wooden Award All American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament brings together Special Olympics athletes and Wooden Award All Americans and coaches in attendance. It is hosted at the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the John R. Wooden Award Weekend.
The Legends of Coaching Award will be presented during the 6th Annual ESPN College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s, which will take place on Friday, April 10, 2020. For up-to-date information on the Wooden Award, please go to www.woodenaward.com and follow the Wooden Award on Facebook at www.facebook.com/woodenaward and @WoodenAward on Twitter and Instagram.
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