Hall of Fame
Regarded as one of the most impactful players in the storied history of ICC's Women's Basketball program, Cindy Stein joins the group of Athletic Hall of Fame inductees for 2024.
A two-sport athlete at ICC, Stein, who hailed from nearby Richwoods High School, was an NJCAA All-American in both basketball (2nd Team) and softball (1st Team). On the hardwood, Stein was a two-time team MVP and as a freshman, was second on the team in scoring (432 points) and led the team in assists with 167. With her running the controls, the Cougars qualified for the National Tournament in both seasons, finishing 6th in 1979-80 and 5th in 1980-81. For her career, she finished with 963 points and 461 assists.
On the softball field, Stein was the starting center fielder for teams that finished in third place in the nation twice. Carrying the previously mentioned All-American honor, she held softball scholarship offers from Northwestern, Nebraska, and Wichita State.
Ultimately, Stein would move on to play basketball at the University of Illinois. While with the Fighting Illini, Stein collected a trophy case worth of honors, including being the Team Captain her senior year, Big Ten Player of the Week in 1983, 323 career assists, and 170 assists in a season (still 2nd all-time). Her 13 assists against Bradley in 1982 are still 4th all-time. Her 6.1 assists per game in 1982-83 are 0.1 from still being the program's all-time record.
While also serving as an assistant coach for the Illini and at Bradley, Stein also made coaching stops at Emporia State (1995-1998; NCAA D2 Runner-Up) and Missouri (1998-2010; 2001 Sweet 16) before returning 'home' to Ramsey Gym to serve as the ICC Women's Basketball Coach for the 2012-2013 season. In that season, she led the Cougars to a 3rd Place Trophy on their home floor at Nationals and a (32-4) overall record.
She then moved on to coach the Southern Illinois Salukis from 2013-2022, winning the Missouri Valley Conference's Regular Season Championship in 2021-22.
Now retired and residing in Florida, Stein still makes occasional color commentary appearances on various broadcasts to provide her basketball insight from over the years.
