Cindy Stein (born January 22, 1961) is a former basketball coach. She was the head

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

coach at

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Chartered in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. SIU enrolls students from all 50 sta ...

from 2013 to 2022. She is the former coach of the Missouri Tigers women's basketball team at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

from 1998 to 2010 and at Illinois Central College from 2012 to 2013. She was the head coach for the Cougars from April 3, 2012, until April 2, 2013, when she was named head coach of the SIU Women's basketball team.

Playing career

Stein was a junior college All-American, playing her first college basketball at Illinois Central College. She later transferred to the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

, an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

school, where she played in her first NCAA Division I tournament in 1982. She ranks sixth in career assists (323) for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

and holds the highest career average for assists per game (5.6). In 1982–83, she set the second highest career assist total in school history (170). She graduated from Illinois in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in physical education.

Coaching career

Stein was a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

and coach for

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

, where she earned a master's degree in physical education with an emphasis in athletic administration. After jobs as an assistant coach at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

, the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, and

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,200 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in fiv ...

, Stein returned to her alma mater, first as a recruiting coach, and then as an assistant coach for her former team. Her first head coaching assignment came at

Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. E ...

, an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

school in

Emporia, Kansas Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka, Kansas, Topeka and Wichita, Kansas, Wichita ...

. In three years as head coach at Emporia State, Stein turned the women's basketball program into a national contender, with her team advancing to the NCAA Division II title game in 1998. This success earned Stein various coaching awards, including being named the Division II Basketball coach of the year. Stein coached for 12 seasons Missouri. She compiled a 185–177 career mark at Missouri from 1998 to 2010. She led the Tigers to two NCAA tournament berths, including a 2001 Sweet 16 appearance. She has had 29 selections to the Academic All Big 12 teams. In the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

, she guided the Tigers to multiple seasons above .500 in league play. She announced her resignation, effective at the end of the 2009–10 season, on her radio show on March 1, 2010. Stein was a TV analyst for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

basketball games. From 2010 to 2012 she provided color commentary for UMKC women's basketball along with play-by-play broadcaster T. J. Jackson on KCWJ.

References

External links

Southern Illinois profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stein, Cindy 1961 births Living people American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Illinois Central Michigan Chippewas women's basketball coaches Emporia State Lady Hornets basketball coaches Illinois Central Cougars women's basketball coaches Illinois Central Cougars women's basketball players Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball players Miami RedHawks women's basketball coaches Missouri Tigers women's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Peoria, Illinois Southern Illinois Salukis women's basketball coaches