With Black History Month coming to a close, it is only fitting that another African American leaves her footprint in the sports record books. Rutgers Head Coach Vivian Stringer joined the 800-win club in Division I basketball on Wednesday, Feb. 27.

This club includes the likes of Pat Summitt (Tennessee Lady Vols), Jody Conradt (retired) and even Bob Knight (retired). Joining the ranks of the aforementioned coaches is honorable and memorable enough. Now, throw in the fact that Stringer will become the first black American (male or female) to join this elite club.

Stringer has struggled to achieve her 800 wins. Her career has been full of adversity, heartache and pain. After getting her start as coach at Cheyney State College, she led that team to the 1982 Final Four, but lost in the championship to Louisiana Tech.

Stringer then moved to University of Iowa, where she led her team to another Final Four appearance. In 1993, she became the first Division I coach to lead two separate teams to the coveted Final Four position. Stringer then went to Rutgers University, where she led the team to a pair of Final Four appearances in 2000 and 2007.

After the 2007 tournament, Stringer was forced to lead her team in a media battle off the court. Infamous radio personality Don Imus verbally insulted the entire Rutgers basketball team by referring to them as “some nappy-headed hos” and “jiggaboos.” “Jiggaboo” is a derogatory term for an African American.

Several politicians became involved; Stringer maintained her professionalism despite the comments’ harshness. She later accepted Don Imus’ apology to the Rutgers women’s basketball team.

All of the Final Fours that Stringer participated in have been surrounded by tragedy. According to ESPN, after the 1982 Final Four, Stringer found out that her toddler daughter, Nina, had come down with spinal meningitis. This disease left her daughter confined to wheelchair. Stringer also went on to lead Iowa in 1992, despite her husband’s  recent death due to a massive heart attack.

Vivian Stringer, just 59 years old, is a picture-perfect role model for the women on her team, coaches around the world and black women in general. With all that has happened to Stringer, winning 800 was all the more memorable. No one else deserves this success as much as she does.