RPS Announces Retirement of Legendary Girls Basketball Coach Mary Klinger

Rutgers Preparatory School announces the retirement of Girls Basketball Coach Mary Coyle Klinger following a 42-year career that helped establish Rutgers Prep as one of New Jersey’s premier high school basketball programs.

Beyond the championships and honors, Klinger’s impact can be measured through the generations of student-athletes she mentored, challenged, and inspired.

In a letter to former Rutgers Prep basketball players, Head of School Steve Loy reflected on Coach Klinger’s legacy and outlined the transition to the program’s next chapter:

Dear Rutgers Prep Girls Basketball Alumnae,

Mary Klinger is retiring.

Coach Klinger is a once in a lifetime leader. She has captured 15 NJISAA Prep championships, 11 Skyland Championships, 12 Somerset County Tournament titles, 6 South Non-Public B titles, and 3 NJSIAA Non-Public B championships. During her coaching career at Rutgers Prep she has won over 750 games.

She has been recognized with countless honors including the John Wooden Legacy Award, National Federation High School National Coach of the Year, and the Bob Hurley Excellence Through Sports Award. 

Coach Klinger has been inducted into the NJSCA Hall of Fame, the New Jersey Sports Writers Hall of Fame, the West Catholic High School Hall of Fame, and the Rutgers University Basketball Hall of Fame.

She is respected nationally and internationally for her acumen, and among her many professional roles she has been a Selection Committee Member for the WBCA & McDonald’s All-American Team and has served as the McDonald’s All-American Team Head Coach in 2011. Coach Klinger was an Assistant Coach for the 2014 USA Basketball Women’s U17 World Championship Team and was on the staff of the USA Junior National Basketball Team.

Coach Klinger currently serves on the Executive Board of New Jersey Basketball Coaches, NJSIAA Basketball Committee, has been a director of the NIKE EYBL, and has been a director of Nike National Basketball Tournament.

Before coming to Rutgers Prep, she was a member of the gold medal AAU National Championship Team and the gold medal USA Junior National Basketball Team. Mary’s career at Rutgers University was remarkable. She is second on the all-time assist chart with 604 and ninth in steals with 181, and was named the team's Most Valuable Player following the 1981-82 season. A four-year starter at Rutgers, Coach Klinger played in 124 games, the seventh highest for a Lady Knight, while also competing for both the National Sports Festival East Team and the U.S.A. National Junior Teams, each time capturing the gold medal. Alongside her twin, Patty Coyle, Mary started on the Rutgers University squad that was crowned National Champions in 1982.

No one can follow in the precise footsteps that Coach Klinger has left us, but we are fortunate that Audrey Taylor has accepted our invitation to be the next Varsity Coach of the Rutgers Prep Women’s Basketball Team, and she is ready for the challenge.

Coach Taylor’s resume includes being named USA Today’s All-USA Coach of the Year in 2019 and twice leading her high school team to the number one ranking in the state of New Jersey. But it is the fact that Coach Taylor was part of Coach Klinger’s staff this past year and was recommended by Coach Klinger for this position that speaks volumes about the ongoing legacy of the Rutgers Prep Girls Basketball Program. 

Coach Taylor recently shared with us that “It’s an honor to follow Coach Mary Klinger, whose 42-year legacy helped define girls’ basketball in New Jersey and earned national respect. What she built at Rutgers Preparatory School didn’t happen by chance. It was built through consistency, discipline, and a real commitment to developing young women the right way. That’s the standard. I’ve had the opportunity to compete against Coach Klinger for years, and this past season, to work alongside her. You see very clearly that her success is not just about results–it’s about how she shows up every day. The preparation. The accountability. What started as rivalry became mentorship, and that perspective matters. It gives you a real understanding of what it takes to sustain excellence over time.”

We are so appreciative of the excellence that Mary has built. And we are so grateful for the opportunity to work with her and learn from her over the past decades. Her dedication, focus, commitment, and devotion are testimony to the way Mary approaches challenges and opportunities. It is hard to find the words to adequately express our gratitude, but we will try nevertheless so that Mary truly knows how much she means to our school.

Over the next months we will share with you the plans we have to honor and celebrate Coach Mary Coyle Klinger and the remarkable impact she has had on our community. In the meantime, I know you join all of us on campus in wishing Mary, along with her husband Jimmy and son Mike, the very best as she embarks on the next stages of her amazing journey.

Sincerely,

Steve Loy
Head of School