Rutgers fired women’s basketball coach Coquese Washington on Monday. The Scarlet Knights finished in last place in the Big Ten this season and ended the year on an 11-game losing streak. Over four years, Washington’s team went 42-84 overall and 11-61 in conference play.
“Rutgers women’s basketball has a proud and storied history of success and there is no reason why our program cannot return to its place among the nation’s elite,” athletic director Keli Zinn said in a release. “We have invested in women’s basketball in many ways, we compete in the best athletic conference in the country, and we are supported by passionate fans and loyal donors. I am confident we will find the right coach who can elevate this program to where it belongs. I want to thank Coquese for her service to Rutgers and wish her the best.”
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Washington had two years left on her contract, and her buyout will cost Rutgers just over $1.7 million (the total is subject to offset if Washington lands another coaching job). The firing is the first coaching change from Zinn, who was hired as athletic director last July. Zinn — who had worked as the deputy AD and chief operating officer at LSU since 2022 — was a part of the LSU athletic department during the Tigers’ 2023 national title run in women’s basketball.
Though Rutgers has not been a national power in nearly two decades, the program has had some success in women’s basketball. Washington succeeded Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer at the helm of the program. Stringer coached the Scarlet Knights from 1995 to 2022 and led the program to the national championship game in 2007, racking up more than 500 of her career wins at Rutgers. Stringer stands as the fifth-winningest coach in women’s basketball history (1,055 wins).
Rutgers’ final game of the season was a 93-52 loss at Nebraska. As the last-place team in the Big Ten, the Scarlet Knights didn’t advance to the conference tournament this year.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Women’s College Basketball
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