Lady Vols basketball legend Candace Parker was elected to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility on Thursday, Oct. 30.
Former WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne, Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, NBA analyst Doris Burke, international players Isabelle Fijalkowski and Amaya Valdemoro and Kirkwood Community College coach Kim Muhl also were elected. Barbara Kennedy-Dixon is being honored posthumously. The class will be inducted on June 27, 2026, at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville.
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Parker, who retired in 2024, played 16 seasons in the WNBA. She was a two-time WNBA MVP, a three-time champion and a 10-time All-WNBA selection. Parker’s No. 3 jersey was retired by the Los Angeles Sparks and Chicago Sky during the summer.
Parker won WNBA Rookie of the Year and MVP in 2008, the only player to accomplish the feat. She’s also the only WNBA player to rank in the top 10 in career points, assists, rebounds and blocks.
Parker led Tennessee to back-to-back national championships in 2007 and 2008, winning Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four both years.
Delle Donne helped the Washington Mystics to their only title in 2019. The two-time MVP became the first player in WNBA history to finish a regular season with a 50% field goal percentage, 40% 3-point field goal percentage and 90% free throw percentage during the 2019 season.
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Reeve, who has coached the Lynx for 16 seasons, has the most career wins (364) and playoff wins (52) in WNBA history. She coached the Lynx to four championships and the U.S. women’s national team to an eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Games.
ESPN analyst Burke, who’s in the Naismith Hall of Fame, made history when she called the 2024 NBA Finals. Burke started her career as an analyst for Big East games and as the radio and TV voice of the New York Liberty.
Valdemoro won three WNBA championships with the Houston Comets, played in two Olympic Games for Spain and won Spanish League titles eight times. Fijalkowski is a five-time French League champion and the all-time leading scorer in the league.
Muhl has coached for 36 seasons at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has won nine NJCAA Division II championships and has a career record of 1,045-171.
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Kennedy-Dixon, who played at Clemson from 1978-82, scored 3,113 career points for seventh all-time in women’s college basketball history. A two-time All-American, she holds ACC career records for scoring, rebounds (1,252), field goals (1,349) and field goal attempts (2,688).
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Candace Parker one of eight to make Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame
