By Dorothy J. Gentry
Sports Editor
Former Duncanville High School standout Tamika Catchings was named an inductee into the 2020 Class of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on April 4th.
Catchings, currently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, played volleyball and basketball at Duncanville High School, leading the volleyball team to a state championship in 1995 and the basketball team to a state championship in the 1996-97 season.
“I am incredibly honored to be included in this year’s Naismith Hall of Fame, and God only knows the dreams I had as a little girl to be able to follow in my father’s footsteps,” Catchings said of her dad, Harvey Catchings, a former professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers. “I am so thankful to stand alongside so many amazing men and women that have come before me.”
Joining Catchings in the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 include
- Kobe Bryant: 18-time NBA All-Star and five-time NBA champion
- Tim Duncan: 15-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA Finals MVP
- Kevin Garnett: 15-time NBA All-Star and nine-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection
- Eddie Sutton: four-time National Coach of the Year
- Rudy Tomjanovich: two-time NBA Champion coach
- Kim Mulkey: three-time NCAA National Championship Coach at Baylor
- Barbara Stevens: five-time Division II National Coach of the Year
- Patrick Baumann: longtime FIBA executive
Catchings played her entire 15-year career with the Indiana Fever, was named the 2011 WNBA MVP and led the Fever to the 2012 WNBA Championship, earning Finals MVP honors. Catchings was named to the All-WNBA team 12 times in her career. She played at the University of Tennessee from 1997-2001, winning a national championship and ranks fourth all time in career points for the Lady Vols. She also won four consecutive Olympic gold medals with Team USA from 2002-2016.
The Class of 2020 will be enshrined on Saturday, August 29 in Springfield, Massachusetts, the home of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
