Women’s basketball alumni return to honor former coach

By Joel Delgado ’12 MS ’17  

When looking back at the career of FIU women’s basketball Head Coach Cindy Russo, it’s easy to make the case for her as one of the most – if not the most – successful coach in the history of FIU Athletics.

Russo began her coaching career at FIU in 1977, then spent two seasons at Lamar before returning to FIU for the 1980-81 season. The rest is history.

She retired in January 2015 after 36 seasons at FIU, amassing 707 career wins (667 of them at FIU) and guiding the Panthers to six NCAA Tournament appearances, eight regular season conference titles and seven tournament crowns and 22 consecutive winning seasons from 1981-2003.

After such a storied career, the university honored her and long-time Associate Head Coach Inge Nissen – a Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and a member of Russo’s staff for 26 seasons – during the women’s basketball team’s nationally televised home game against Rice Feb. 20.

“We always say we are ‘Worlds Ahead’ and there’s no better example than Cindy Russo,” President Mark B. Rosenberg says. “When you think about FIU women’s basketball, you think of Cindy Russo.”

Retired Head Coach Cindy Russo (center, front row) reunited with many of her former players on Feb. 20 at the FIU women’s basketball game vs. Rice.

For Russo, the game felt more like a family reunion as she walked up and down the stands for most of the game, smiling and mingling former student-athletes, friends and supporters in attendance.

At halftime, the athletic department announced that they would name the locker room after Russo and unveiled a banner that reads “COACH RUSSO – 707 CAREER WINS,” which will hang from the rafters next to the retired jerseys from the program.

“I can’t stop smiling,” Russo said after the halftime ceremony. “Every time I see somebody from one of my former teams it brings back so many memories and I’m so happy they are all here together. It’s just a very happy day.”

A few dozen alumni few dozen alumni who played for Riusso returned to FIU for the occasion, some coming from as far as Hungary to pay tribute to their former coaches and to catch up with some of their former teammates.

Former women’s basketball player Jennifer Bell played under Russo from 1990-1993 and flew in from Houston, where she currently lives and works as a realtor, to be a part of the occasion.

“She is a special coach because not only is she passionate about the game, but she also has a lot of love and cares about her players,” says Bell, who helped the program win consecutive conference championships in the early 1990s. “She cares that you’re going to work hard to be the best player and person she can coach you to be.”

Cormisha Cotton, who played at FIU from 2000-2003, almost couldn’t make it to the game because of an illness that sent her to the hospital several days before. Thankfully, she recovered enough to be in attendance.

“I thought I was going to miss it but luckily I got out of the hospital,” Cotton said with a laugh. “She’s done so much for us and the university and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Even among current players, such as senior Taylor Shade who played two-and-a-half seasons under Russo, her impact and legacy is still felt on the court.

“Her fight and tenacity as a coach, even from the sidelines, is still there,” Shade says.