Rutgers suspends Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer for a game

Rutgers suspends Stringer for a game

Rutgers suspended Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer on Tuesday for one game for misusing practice players.

Stringer will miss the Scarlet Knights’ game against Seton Hall on Wednesday. She is third among women’s coaches on the all-time victories list with 838 wins and was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last September.

Stringer violated an NCAA bylaw which states that managers may not participate as practice players with the institution’s team if they are not eligible student-athletes.

“Accountability is a vital element of the Rutgers athletics family,” the school’s athletic director, Tim Pernetti, said in a statement. “We will always follow what is in accordance with athletic department and NCAA policy.”

Associate head coach Carlene Mitchell will be the acting head coach against Seton Hall.

Rutgers only has nine players on its roster after freshman Christine Huber decided to transfer in early January. The Scarlet Knights entered the season without leading scorer Epiphanny Prince, who decided to leave school last spring after her junior year to pursue a playing career overseas. She was the team’s leading scorer averaging 19.5 points.

As a result, the Scarlet Knights have struggled this season, going 13-10 including losses in three of their last four games. They sit in sixth place in the Big East conference.