Cindy Russo (born September 7, 1952) served as the women's basketball head coach at Florida International and Lamar. Retiring in January 2015,[1][2] her career spanned 39 years with 38 of those years as a head coach. She had several accomplishments over her career. She guided the FIU Panthers to 20 consecutive winning seasons. Her teams also achieved 20 win seasons 18 times. Her teams participated in six NCAA Division I women's basketball tournaments, seven WNIT tournaments, and two NCAA Division II Tournaments.[3]
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 7, 1952 Portsmouth, Virginia |
| Playing career | |
| 1972–1975 | Old Dominion |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1975–1977 | Old Dominion (asst.) |
| 1977–1978 | FIU |
| 1978–1980 | Lamar |
| 1980–2015 | FIU |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 707–408 (.634) |
Russo was born in Portsmouth, Virginia and graduated from Old Dominion University in 1975.[4]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIU Golden Panthers (AIAW independent) (1977–1978) | |||||||||
| 1977–78 | FIU | 8–14 | |||||||
| Lamar Lady Cardinals[5] (AIAW Independent) (1978–1980) | |||||||||
| 1978–79 | Lamar | 16–11 | |||||||
| 1979–80 | Lamar | 20–11 | |||||||
| FIU Golden Panthers[6] (AIAW Independent) (1980–1982) | |||||||||
| 1980–81 | FIU | 7–13 | |||||||
| 1981–82 | FIU | 27–10 | AIAW Small College First Round[7] | ||||||
| FIU Golden Panthers[6] (NCAA Division II independent) (1982–1987) | |||||||||
| 1982–83 | FIU | 17–7 | NCAA D-II First Round[7] | ||||||
| 1983–84 | FIU | 17–11 | |||||||
| 1984–85 | FIU | 22–6 | |||||||
| 1985–86 | FIU | 26–2 | NCAA D-II First Round[7] | ||||||
| 1986–87 | FIU | 21–7 | NCAA D-II Second Round[7] | ||||||
| FIU Golden Panthers[8] (New South Women's Athletic Conference/Trans America Athletic Conference[9]) (1987–1998) | |||||||||
| 1987–88 | FIU | 21–7 | 9–3 | 2nd | |||||
| 1988–89 | FIU | 20–7 | 11–1 | 1st | |||||
| 1989–90 | FIU | 20–9 | 10–2 | T–1st | |||||
| 1990–91 | FIU | 16–13 | 7–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 1991–92 | FIU | 23–10 | 10–2 | T–1st | WNIT Consolation[7] | ||||
| 1992–93 | FIU | 25–6 | 12–0 | 1st | WNIT Third Place[7] | ||||
| 1993–94 | FIU | 25–4 | 11–1 | 1st | NCAA D-I First Round | ||||
| 1994–95 | FIU | 27–5 | 15–1 | 1st | NCAA D-I Second Round | ||||
| 1995–96 | FIU | 23–5 | 16–0 | 1st | |||||
| 1996–97 | FIU | 21–9 | 12–4 | 1st | NCAA D-I First Round | ||||
| 1997–98 | FIU | 29–2 | 15–1 | 1st | NCAA D-I Second Round | ||||
| FIU Golden Panthers[6][10] (Sun Belt Conference) (1998–2013) | |||||||||
| 1998–99 | FIU | 23–7 | 9–3 | 2nd | NCAA D-I First Round | ||||
| 1999–2000 | FIU | 16–13 | 10–6 | T–3rd | |||||
| 2000–01 | FIU | 20–10 | 11–5 | 2nd (East) | WNIT First Round[7] | ||||
| 2001–02 | FIU | 27–6 | 13–1 | 1st (East) | NCAA D-I Second Round | ||||
| 2002–03 | FIU | 19–11 | 9–5 | T–2nd (East) | WNIT First Round[7] | ||||
| 2003–04 | FIU | 0–16* | 0–9* | ||||||
| 2004–05 | FIU | 18–11 | 7–7 | 4th (East) | |||||
| 2005–06 | FIU | 19–13 | 9–5 | 3rd (East) | WNIT Second Round[7] | ||||
| 2006–07 | FIU | 16–14 | 9–9 | 3rd (East) | |||||
| 2007–08 | FIU | 13–18 | 8–10 | 4th (East) | |||||
| 2008–09 | FIU | 6–24 | 4–14 | 6th (East) | |||||
| 2009–10 | FIU | 14–16 | 9–9 | T–4th (East) | |||||
| 2010–11 | FIU | 16–16 | 10–6 | 2nd (East) | |||||
| 2011–12 | FIU | 23–11 | 10–6 | 3rd (East) | WNIT Second Round | ||||
| 2012–13 | FIU | 19–13 | 12–8 | 3rd (East) | WNIT First Round | ||||
| FIU Panthers[6] (Conference USA) (2013–2015) | |||||||||
| 2013–14 | FIU | 15–18 | 6–10 | T–9th[11] | |||||
| 2014–15 | FIU | 3–13** | 0–5** | ||||||
| Total: | 707–395 (.642) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
* 2003–04 wins vacated by the NCAA; FIU originally finished 4th in the East Division.
** Partial season. Coach Russo resigned effective immediately on January 22, 2015. Interim head coach completed the season. Inge Nissen became interim head coach and went 0–13 (all in C-USA), for the team to finish 3–26 (0–18 C-USA) and in 14th place.[12]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ David J. Neale (January 22, 2015). "Longtime FIU women's basketball coach Cindy Russo retires". Miami Herald. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
- ^ Tim Reynolds (Associated Press) (January 22, 2015). "Cindy Russo resigns as FIU coach". ESPN. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
- ^ "Cindy Russo - Head Coach". Florida International University. Archived from the original on 2016-06-09.
- ^ "Cindy Russo". FIU. 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
- ^ "2012–13 Women's Basketball Information Guide" (PDF). Lamar Athletics. p. 80. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
- ^ a b c d "2015–16 Women's Basketball" (PDF). Conference USA. pp. 15–18. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "All-time postseason results" (PDF). 2014-15 FIU Women's Basketball Media Guide. Florida International University. pp. 59–60.
- ^ "Yearly Standings" (PDF). 2014–15 Atlantic Sun Conference Women's Basketball Record Book. Atlantic Sun Conference. pp. 5–6. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
- ^ "Division I Conference Champions Season-by-Season" (PDF). 2003 Women's Basketball Records Book. NCAA. p. 174.
Note: From 1986–91, the conference operated as the New South Women's Athletic Conference before merging with the TAAC in 1992. Known as the Trans America Athletic Conference from 1992 to 2001
- ^ "2015–16 Sun Belt Conference Women's Basketball Guide". Sun Belt Conference. pp. 70–73. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
- ^ "C-USA Standings - 2013-14". ESPN. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
- ^ "FIU" (PDF). 2015-16 Women's Basketball. Conference USA. 2015. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-16.