Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer was suspended Tuesday by the university for the misuse of a male team manager as a practice player, in violation of the NCAA policy.Stringer, a Hall of Fame coach, will miss Wednesday's home game against Seton Hall. Associate head coach Carlene Mitchell will act as head coach for the game.
"Accountability is a vital element of the Rutgers athletics family," said Tim Pernetti, Rutgers athletic director, in a statement released by the athletic department. "We will always follow what is in accordance with athletic department and NCAA policy."
Coach Stringer had no comment.
The coach reportedly violated an NCAA bylaw stating that team managers cannot participate in practice with the team unless they are eligible student-athletes.
Stringer is the third-winningest coach in women's college basketball with 838 wins. But it has been a roller-coaster season for the Scarlet Knights, who are down to nine players on their roster. The team lost star guard Epiphanny Prince last summer when Price decided to forgo her senior season to play professionally overseas. Freshman Christine Huber decided to transfer in early January.
Last season, two of the team's top recruits in a heralded freshmen class, Brooklyn Pope and Jasmine Dixon, also transferred.
Rutgers is 13-10 and 5-4 in Big East play, currently good for sixth place.
The use of male practice players in college women's basketball has been controversial over the years.
In December 2006, the NCAA's Committee on Women's Athletics issued a position paper calling for a ban of male practice players in women's intercollegiate athletics. The argument for the ban was that male practice players "diminishes opportunities" for athletes already on the roster.
But women's basketball coaches, particularly at the Division I level, argued that male practice players help to improve the quality of their teams and their players' skills.
Current NCAA rules say that male practice players must be enrolled full-time in classes and cannot be rewarded in any way for their practice time with the team.
