C. Vivian Stringer And Other Trailblazers in Women’s Hoops

Rutgers women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer became the first African-American college basketball coach to 1,000 career wins last week. Stringer’s accomplishment puts her in a class among some of basketball’s elite coaches — including Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Geno Auriemma and Pat Summit.

The victory is the most recent milestone in Stringer’s illustrious career. Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009, Stringer’s career resume includes four Final Four appearances, 10 conference championships, four conference Coach of the Year awards and one Naismith Coach of the Year award.

She is among several black female coaches to help pave the way for the global majority, whose representation amongst the coaching ranks is severely lacking. According to The Institute For Diversity and Ethics in Sports, only 11.4 percent of division I coaches were black women.

Here’s are some of the sport’s more influential current and former coaches.