The days of Vivian C. Stringer and success for Rutgers Women’s Basketball are long gone.
It came to a peak on Saturday with a 93-52 loss to Nebraska to end the regular season. This marked the 11th consecutive loss for Rutgers to end the season, and 16th of 17. The team ended the season with 14 double-digit losses and an average margin of defeat of 23.2 in Big Ten play.
This also brought an end to head coach Coquese Washington’s fourth season in Piscataway. During that time, the Scarlet Knights are
42-84 overall and 11-61 in the Big Ten.
The question remains, will Washington be brought back for a fifth year?
Last week, Washington gave a resounding “yes” when asked if she believes she did enough to return next season, according to NJ.com. Despite her confidence, it feels hard to believe that Rutgers would run it back one more time.
Washington has $1.675 million left on her contract. This would be a big statement made by athletic director Keli Zinn, who could be looking to set the standard at the university — and that is that teams need to win.
The other question is, who would take over?
It is difficult, or near impossible, to find an established head coach within power conferences that will become available. The replacement will also factor into the decision, but regardless, it would not show much by bringing Washington back.
Zinn has worked to improve the NIL operations within the department. While the priority remains Football and Men’s Basketball, the new A.D. has bene presented with an interesting opportunity. A move to replace Washington would set the tone for the athletic program moving forward.
