Stringer, Rutgers’ Hall of Fame coach, retires after 50 years
Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer announced her retirement Saturday after 50 years in college basketball.
She finished with 1,055 wins — fourth all-time among Division I women’s basketball coaches. Stringer made four Final Four appearances and reached the NCAA Tournament 28 times while leading Cheyney State, Iowa and Rutgers. Stringer was emotional when she talked to her team Friday night on a Zoom call.
“I am officially announcing my retirement,” Stringer in a statement. “My life has been defined by coaching and I’ve been on this journey for over five decades. It is rare that someone gets to do what they love for this long and I have been fortunate to do that. I love Rutgers University for the incredible opportunity they offered me and the tremendous victories we achieved together.”
The 74-year-old coach had been on leave this past season because of COVID-19 concerns. She signed a five-year extension before going on leave last April. Her retirement becomes effective on Sept. 1, and she agreed to an $872,988 retirement buyout. Rutgers will name its basketball court in her honor next season.
Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway said naming the court after her is “a fitting and indelible tribute to one of the greatest coaches of all time.”
Stringer has coached at Rutgers since 1995, winning 535 games. She led the Scarlet Knights to the NCAA title game in 2007 when they lost to Tennessee.
HOPE FOR EMBIID
The best that Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers could offer
Saturday about Joel Embiid’s possible availability for the Eastern Conference semifinal series against Miami was a two-word answer.
“There’s hope,” Rivers said. For now, Philadelphia will cling to that.
The 76ers and Heat both hit the practice floor Saturday to begin the process of adjusting for a playoff series that won’t have Embiid at the start -- at minimum. Embiid, the NBA’s scoring champion and an MVP finalist this season, has a right orbital fracture and a mild concussion, injuries that were suffered Thursday in a first-round series-clincher at Toronto.
Game 1 is Monday in Miami.
BAUER WILL FIGHT BAN
Trevor Bauer is fighting to protect his pitching career, reputation and earning power in the face of his unprecedented two-season suspension without pay by MLB for violating MLB’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy.
Now, it’s an arbitrator’s turn to decide whether he ever plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers — or any other MLB team — again.
His punishment was meted out Friday for sexual abuse allegations he denies.
If the arbitrator sides with MLB, the 31-year-old pitcher’s full suspension of 324 games without pay would be upheld and Bauer would lose just over $60 million from a $102 million, three-year contract he signed last year.
If Bauer wins, he faces the prospect of rebuilding his reputation, as well as potential public backlash and mending fences with MLB and his team.