-
Date Of Birth
Vivian Stringer was born on March 16, 1948 in Edenborn, Pennsylvania. -
Period: to
Vivian Stringer's Life
-
Technical
Vivian Stringer became an athlete at Slippery Rock University, where she played basketball, field hockey, softball, and tennis—all of them well enough to earn entry into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. -
Human Relations
At age 23, Vivian volunteered to coach the women's basketball team at Cheyney State University. She worked alongside John Chaney. They formed a fast friendship and it continued while each has pursued their basketball fame: Stringer at Iowa and Rutgers, and Chaney at Temple University. -
Planning
Barely out of college, Vivian started planning a career as a basketall coach for women. She started learning to coach at Cheyney State, where she coached alongside John Chaney, sharing a gym and a coaching philosophy. -
Decisional: Entrepreneur
Stringer is a noted administrator and was one of the key players in the development of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. She served as a voting member of the WBCA Board of Directors, the Amateur Basketball Association of the United States, and the Nike Coaches Advisory Board. -
Organizing
Vivian helped the NCAA sponsored its first-ever National Championship for the women’s basketball team. And because of this, Cheyney State advanced to their first Final Four, but losing to Louisiana Tech in the championship game. Cheyney’s postseason run put the small university on the national map, as well as on par with the national powerhouse programs. -
Staffing
Stringer had a new challenge in mind and found that opportunity at the University of Iowa. At the beginning of the 1983-84 season, Stringer built a program that helped elevate women’s basketball to a whole new level. Stringer’s hard work and dedication got Iowa’s Hawkeyes to the 1993 Final Four. -
Decisional: Resource Allocator
After her husband, Bill Stringer passed away, she ended up being a single parent. But that didn't stop her from coaching. Vivian Stringer rearranged her schedule to accommodate her additional responsibilities as a single parent. She returned to coaching in January of 1993. Within months, the Hawkeyes were prominently featured in the NCAA Final Four. -
Interpersonal: Figurehead
C. Vivian Stringer made sports history in 1995 when she signed a multiyear contract to coach women's basketball at Rutgers University. The contract made her the best-paid women's coach in the country, with a base salary of $150,000 and raising her yearly income to $300,000. -
Leading
Stringer arrived at Rutger's University in July of 1995 armed with a belief in the program’s ability, calling it the “Jewel of the East." And in 1998, she led her team to victory, posting its first 20-win season in four years (22-10), winning the Big East title with a 14-4 regular-season record. -
Controlling
Over the next couple years, Vivian Stringer watched as the Rutgers continued its steady progression. The Scarlet Knights advanced to the Elite Eight and won the BIG EAST regular-season title. -
Conceptional
Despite enduring a family crisis, Stringer's coaching never suffered. She was awarded the 1998 Coach of the Year Award from the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association, an honor she received again in 1999, 2000, 2005, and 2006. -
Decisional: Negotiator
In May of 2007, Stringer was offered an extended contract with Rutgers University that included an increase in base pay to over $400,000 with the potential to earn an additional $500,000 in compensation for extraseason activities. In addition, Stringer signed a contract to write her autobiography for Crown Books. -
Informational: Spokesperson
In 2007, after the Rutgers reached the NCAA Tournament's Final Four after upsetting #1 seed Duke, Vivian Stringer served as a spokesperson for the Rutgers team during a media firestorm over a bad reference made towards the team. It was on the radio and television program Imus in the Morning. -
Interpersonal: Leader
Stringer became the third women's basketball coach to win 800 career games. She also led the Scarlet Knights to the Elite Eight in 2008 where they lost to fellow women's basketball powerhouse, the University of Connecticut.
