Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer will welcome one of the nation's top recruiting classes next season.Rutgers women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer turned the Scarlet Knights into a national power over the last decade and has earned a spot in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
But for the past two seasons, the Scarlet Knights have been unable to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament after five consecutive Sweet 16 appearances (2004-05 to 2008-09), and there have been whispers that it’s time for Stringer to leave the program.
Not so fast.
"Rutgers will be back," Stringer said Thursday, basking in the afterglow of boosting what was already the No. 5-rated recruiting class in the nation by ESPNU's HoopGurlz with the addition of McDonald's All-American forward Betnijah Laney on Wednesday.
Laney, a Clayton, Del., native who is rated as the No. 11 recruit in the country by HoopGurlz, joins a recruiting class that includes four New Jerseyans: No. 6-rated Briyona Canty (Trenton Catholic), No. 16 Shakena Richardson (Neptune), No. 51 Syessence Davis (Neptune) and 6-3 center Christa Evans (Jackson Memorial).
“I can’t stop smiling,” Stringer said. “I can’t stop smiling. This is the first time we’ll have the type of depth we’re used to having. We’ll be able to play the type of (pressing) style we like to play. It should be great. I’m really excited.
“What’s encouraging is their first statement to us was that we grew up watching Rutgers at the highest level, and we want to be the ones who make it possible to come back, and we will. They’re just honored. I can’t tell you how happy I am to have people who want to be here and accept the challenge. I just like the kids.”
Stringer, who refused to comment on reports that freshmen Daisha Simmons and Briana Hutchen will transfer, declined to compare her current group with her heralded 2008 recruiting class that had five McDonald’s All-Americans (this class has two in Laney and Canty). But she hinted that she likes the chemistry, unselfishness and mental toughness of this group better than the 2008 class.
“They’re great competitors,” Stringer said of her incoming class.
Stringer said it has taken years to recover from the departure of Jasmine Dixon (UCLA) and Brooklyn Pope (Baylor) from her 2008 Fab Five class, but she feels the program is finally back on track.
“To say we’re just going to — shazam — be there (in the National Championship hunt) next year I think is unfair to everybody,” Stringer said. “I’m not going to put any expectations (on this group) because things will happen in whatever time it takes. But we have a lot of the elements that we need.”
Dave Hutchinson: dhutchinson@starledger.com