Softball Hall of Fame

Cindy Stein was one of the most outstanding athletes in local history.

She won varsity letters at Richwoods High School in volleyball, softball and basketball in all four of her seasons. She was selected to the Mid-State 10 all-conference team in softball and basketball three times and the volleyball team once. Cindy hit .557, .469 and .522 in her last three softball seasons, was honorable mention all-state in basketball and was Richwoods' Female Athlete of the Year in 1979.

At Illinois Central College she was named to the first team of the National Junior softball team in 1980 and to the NJCAA second team basketball in 1980 and 1981. She was an all-Region IV basketball and softball selection in 1980 and 1981 and named MVP of ICC's basketball team both seasons.

She was selected to play in the NJCAA East-West All-Star game in 1981 and was named the top Female Athlete at the 1981 Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame banquet.

At the University of Illinois, Cindy was captain of the basketball team her senior year, a Big Ten Player of the Week in March of 1983, and won the Alexander Bush Scholarship award for basketball and academics in 1983. At the time of her hall induction, she ranked No.4 in Illinois career assists for two years with 323 and set an Illinois record with an average of 5.6 assists.

After her playing days ended, Cindy went into basketball coaching. She served as an assistant at several schools, including Illinois and Bradley. She went on to become head coach at Emporia State, where she was named NCAA Division II Coach of the Year after taking the team to the national title game in 1998. She then spent 12 seasons as head coach at the University of Missouri, one at ICC and nine at Southern Illinois-Carbondale. Her career coaching record was 340-272.