KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Lady Vol legend was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday night.
Tamika Catchings played under head coach Pat Summit, a Tennessee icon, from 1997-2001. In 1998, she played with the Lady Vols as they won game after game, eventually taking home the Women's Basketball National Championship after an undefeated season.
She is the tenth player from the University of Tennessee to be honored and is one out of two players in Tennessee women's basketball history to score more than 2,000 career points and get more than 1,000 career rebounds.
After playing in college, she played for the professional Indiana Fever team. During her time in the WNBA, she won several awards. She also took home four gold medals with Team USA in the Olympics.
While waiting for her name to be called, Catchings said that she was thankful to her former head coach and to the University of Tennessee. She said they helped pave the way for her success.
"I am always so excited to get back and be back here in Knox-vegas," she said in a social media post. "I want to thank everybody for your support, and go Lady Vols for life!"
Her expected induction in 2020 was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and she will be joined by seven others being celebrated at the Tennessee Theatre.
Catchings, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in May, will join fellow women's hall inductees Debbie Brock (player/Delta State), Carol Callan (contributor/USA Basketball), Swin Cash (player/UConn, WNBA, U.S. Olympian), the late Sue Donohoe (contributor/NCAA), Lauren Jackson (player/WNBA, Australian Olympian), the late David Stern (contributor/NBA) and Carol Stiff (contributor/ESPN), according to a press release.