Rutgers fires women's basketball coach Coquese Washington after season ends with 11 straight losses
Rutgers head coach Coquese Washington yells out to players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP/Caroline Brehman
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rutgers fired women's basketball coach Coquese Washington on Monday after the Scarlet Knights ended the season with 11 straight losses and failed to win 10 games for the second time in three years.
Washington was 42-84 overall and 11-61 in Big Ten play over four seasons. The Knights were 9-20 this season, and their 1-17 Big Ten record was the worst in program history 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. “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.”
A national search for a new women’s basketball head coach will begin immediately, Zinn said.
Washington succeeded C. Vivian Stringer, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame member who retired in 2022. Stringer coached 27 years at Rutgers, won 535 games and led the Knights to 17 NCAA Tournaments, including 10 in a row from 2003-12. The Knights reached the Final Four in 2000 and the national championship game in 2007. Rutgers' last NCAA appearance was in 2021.
Washington had been Penn State's coach from 2007-19 and was associate head coach at Oklahoma for one year and at Notre Dame for two before taking over at Rutgers.
Penn State won three straight Big Ten regular-season titles from 2012-14 and made the Sweet 16 in 2012 and 2014.
Rutgers struggled all four seasons under Washington. The Knights won only one game against a power-conference team this season and finished with a 93-52 loss at Nebraska on Saturday.
