LOS ANGELES, CA (October 1, 2019) – C. Vivian Stringer, Rutgers University’s Women’s Basketball Coach, received the John R. Wooden Award®’s “Legends of Coaching™” honor in 2020. Coach Wooden’s grandson-in-law Craig Impleman was proud to announce his 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. He will be awarded the honor during the 6^th 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.