ATLANTA (June 16, 2026) — C. Vivian Stringer is the recipient of the 2026 Betty F. Jaynes Lifetime Achievement Award, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced today. The award is named in honor of the late Betty F. Jaynes, who was the WBCA’s first and longest-serving executive director.
Stringer’s name is one of the most recognizable in college basketball. She built an illustrious legacy highlighted by countless unforgettable moments through a tireless work ethic and desire for excellence. A pioneer, visionary and leader during her 50 years of success in the sport, Stringer compiled a career record of 1055-426, which ranks sixth all-time among NCAA women’s basketball coaching victories.
Stringer transformed three programs into national title contenders. She guided teams to 28 of the 40 NCAA tournaments, including 10-straight from 2003 to 2012. She was the first coach in men’s or women’s basketball history to take three different schools to the Final Four (Cheyney in 1982, Iowa in 1993, and Rutgers in 2000 and 2007).
Stringer also tested herself in the international arena. Under her leadership, U.S. national teams won a silver medal in the 1984 World University Games in Kobe, Japan; a gold medal in the 1989 FIBA World Championship for Women Americas Qualifier in Sao Paulo, Brazil; and a bronze medal in the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba. She was an assistant coach with the gold-medal winning 2004 U.S. Olympic Team in Athens, Greece.
Stringer was one of 12 coaches who met in July 1981 during the Olympic Trials in Syracuse, New York, to discuss the formation of a professional association for coaches of women’s basketball and agreed to form the WBCA. She remained an active member of the association she helped found through her retirement from coaching in 2022.
“C. Vivian Stringer is a pioneer and giant in our game. She represents so many ideals on which our game stands today,” said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. “Vivian is a competitor. She is meticulous. She has a deep passion for her student-athletes and has fully answered her calling to use basketball as her platform to transform lives.
“She is the prominent example for our Black coaches, and her success has inspired future generations of coaches and student-athletes. She is a founding pillar of the WBCA, and our association is thankful for her many contributions on the court and as a leader to her peers. I am also grateful to have worked with Vivian and for all she has taught me.”
Stringer has been inducted into 12 halls of fame, including the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001, the New Jersey Sports Hall of Fame and the Sport in Society Hall of Fame in 2005, the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame and International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. She won numerous coach of the year awards throughout her career, including being named WBCA NCAA Division I Coach of the Year by her peers in 1988 and 1993. The WBCA also presented her with the Carol Eckman Award (now called the Carol Eckman Integrity in Coaching Award) in 1993.
A native of Edenborn, Pennsylvania, and a graduate of Slippery Rock University, Stringer and the late William D. Stringer have three children — David, Janine and Justin — and two grandchildren — Dayton and Ryker.
“I am honored to receive the Betty F. Jaynes Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association,” said Stringer. “I was one of 12 college women’s basketball coaches who met in July 1981 and agreed to form the WBCA. Now, 45 years later, I am grateful to be recognized in this manner by the association of coaches that I helped found.
“I had the great fortune to coach the sport I love for over 50 years, to mentor hundreds of young women who played for me, to teach them to respect themselves and each other, and to set them on their own journeys to success. That is my lifetime achievement because that — more than the victories, more than the championships, more than anything else — is what it means to be coach.”
Under Jaynes’ leadership, the WBCA established itself as the leading resource and advocate for and voice of coaches of women’s basketball, growing from 212 members in its initial year of existence to more than 3,000 at the time of her retirement in November 2001. Jaynes remained active with the WBCA as a consultant handling advisory assignments including finances, educational programming, advocacy, and special projects until her death in 2014. In total, she served the association for 35 years.
Previously known as the Berenson Lifetime Achievement Award, it began as the WBCA Service Award in 1984.
Visit https://wbca.org to see a list of past recipients.
About the WBCA
The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women’s and girls’ basketball at all levels of competition. Founded in 1981, the WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to the organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit WBCA.org for more details about the association.
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