Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer gets 1,000th career win

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer joined an exclusive club, reaching 1,000 wins.

Stringer became the fifth Division I women’s basketball coach to achieve the milestone and sixth woman overall when the Scarlet Knights beat Central Connecticut State 73-44 on Tuesday night.

The Hall of Fame coach joined Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma, Tara VanDerveer and Sylvia Hatchell in the 1,000-victory club. Division II coach Barbara Stevens also has won over 1,000 games. The 70-year-old Stringer is the first African-American coach to reach the milestone.

As the final seconds ran down, the 4,583 fans held up signs that said “CVSK” and chanted the coach’s name. When the final buzzer sounded, red and white confetti rained down onto the court. Her team put the confetti into a Gatorade bucket and dumped it over her head.

Video tributes from all the other living Division I members of the 1,000-win club were played as Stringer sat under balloons that spelled out CVS1K.

The Hall of Fame coach got her career started at Cheyney State in 1971 before moving on to Iowa and finally Rutgers in 1995. Many of her former players were on hand to witness the milestone victory. She’s 1,000-402 in her career. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy was also sitting courtside for the historic win.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley also made the trip to New Jersey with her staff that included Jolette Law, who was an assistant for Stringer at Rutgers for many years and played for her at Iowa. Staley’s Gamecocks play on Thursday against Clemson. She said she had no doubt in her mind she should be at Rutgers for this game with all that Stringer has meant to African-American coaches.

While Stringer remembers many of the victories over her 48-year coaching career, one that she doesn’t recall is her first one at Cheyney State. In fact, no one can specifically remember who her team beat to get that first victory. Stringer laughs about it now, saying that she had no idea she’d be still coaching nearly five decades later and win 1,000 games.

While it took Stringer five tries to get win No. 900 in 2013, her team took care of reaching this milestone on its first try. The Scarlet Knights (3-0) scored 10 of the first 13 points and never looked back building a 37-17 halftime lead.

Stringer was concerned before the game that her team would be under a lot of pressure to win with so many people coming to celebrate the momentous victory. Her team made sure they wouldn’t go home disappointed. Caitlin Jenkins had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Scarlet Knights.

Kiana Patterson led Central Connecticut State with 25 points, including the 1,000th of her career.