The FIU Athletic Department will honor former FIU Women’s Basketball Head Coach and 2016 Torch Awards recipient Cindy Russo during the Panthers’ game versus the Rice Owls on Saturday, Feb. 20. Game time from Lime Court at FIU Arena is set for 12 p.m. ET.
Former players, staff members and administrators are invited to attend the Feb. 20 contest as FIU will honor one of the NCAA’s winningest coaches at halftime followed by a post-game reception.
To RSVP please contact Carla M. Garcia by email at carla.garcia@fiu.edu.
Those unable to attend are encouraged to send photos and notes to:
Carla M. Garcia
11200 SW 8th Street, FIU Arena 159
Miami, FL 33199
Russo was the driving force behind the women’s basketball team for 36 of the program’s 41 years. Over that time, she has guided FIU to 22-consecutive winning seasons (1981-2003) and at least 20 victories on 18 occasions. Russo has led her teams to six NCAA Division I Tournament berths, seven Postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournaments (WNIT), three NCAA Division II Tournaments and three AIAW Small College National Tournaments, in addition to winning eight regular season conference titles and seven tournament crowns. She has been recognized as conference coach of the year seven times in three different leagues and has coached seven All-Americans including Jerica Coley, who finished her FIU career with 3,107 points (fifth all-time in NCAA history). Russo has the 14th-most wins in Division I women’s basketball history and owns a career record of 707-408 (.634) over 38 seasons, and a record of 667-386 (.633) in 36 seasons at FIU.
Russo began her coaching career at FIU in 1977 before spending two seasons at Lamar (1978-79; 1979-80) where she went 40-22. A native of Portsmouth, Va., Russo returned to FIU for the 1980-81 season.