Tamika Catchings selected to Naismith Hall of Fame

Tamika Catchings selected to Naismith Hall of Fame.

KNOXVILLE — Former University of Tennessee women’s basketball player Tamika Catchings can add another honor to her resume.

Catchings, who played for the Lady Vols from 1997-2001, was selected for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The official announcement was made Saturday.

She is the first Lady Vol player to be inducted and joins legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt in the hall. Summitt was inducted in 2000.

Catchings is the daughter of former NBA player Harvey Catchings, and will go into the hall along with Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Eddie Sutton, Patrick Baumann, Barbara Stevens, Rudy Tomjanovich and Kim Mulkey.

She played on UT’s 1998 National Championship team and has her number, 24, retired by the Lady Vols and the WNBA’s Indiana Fever.

The former Lady Vol is Indiana’s general manager and was drafted by the franchise in the 2001 draft. She was the third overall pick.

Catchings also played in Europe between 2003-11.

She also won Olympic Gold Medals in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016, and won two Gold and a Bronze medals in the World Championships.

Catchings was a WNBA Champion, and won titles in Turkey and Poland. She was the WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2002 and the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2011 and the WNBA Finals MVP during the same season.