Tamika Catchings

Tamika Devonne Catchings was born on July 21, 1979 in Stratford, New Jersey. Catchings attended Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, and led them to Illinois’ IHSA Division AA State Championship in 1995 under head coach Frank Mattucci. Her family then moved to Texas, where she graduated from Duncanville High School. She led that team to a state basketball title as well.

Catchings majored in Sports Management at the University of Tennessee and played basketball for the Lady Vols under Coach Pat Summitt, from 1998-2001. In 1997-1998, Catchings joined Chamique Holdsclaw as the second member of the Lady Vols to be honored as a Kodak All-American as a freshman.

She was also rewarded for her great play with spots on the All-Tournament, All-SEC and All-Freshman Teams as well as numerous other accolades. Catchings started in 37 of 39 games, she scored double figures 36 times, grabbed double-digit rebounds nine times and recorded nine double-doubles, and helped lead the Lady Vols to their second national NCAA championship (the Lady Vols had won their first in 1986.)

In her Sophomore year, (1998-1998), Catchings was named to the Kodak All-America Team for the second time. She was also named to The Associated Press All-America Team, as well as Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and Women’s Basketball Journal All-America Teams, and numerous other accolades.

For her junior year, (1999-2000) Catchings was a consensus All-American and received the Naismith National Player of the Year Award. She also helped the Lady Vols to the NCAA Championship game for the second time in her four college seasons. Catchings led her team in scoring, rebounding and steals, as well as minutes.

In her senior year (2000-2001), Catchings led the Lady Vols team in scoring and rebounding through the first 17 games of that season. Her season ended with that game when she tore her right ACL. Catchings graduated with honors a semester ahead of her class with a bachelor’s degree in sport management. Indeed, she was a 2001 Academic All-SEC honoree, and earned a perfect 4.0 GPA during her final undergraduate semester.

In 2001, Catchings was drafted by the Indiana Fever despite the fact that she was rehabbing her torn ACL. She made her debut in 2002 and won Rookie of the Year honors. In 2005, Tameka scored her 2,000th point in the WNBA, becoming the fastest player to reach that milestone, after just four seasons. She is also the fastest to 1,000 rebounds, 400 assists, and 300 steals. Tameka was also named the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, and repeated in 2006.

In 2006, she was voted in to the 2006 WNBA All-Star Game, and was also the leading vote-getter, but had to sit out because of a foot injury. At half-time she was announced as a member of the All-Decade Team along with 9 other players and former Comets coach Van Chancellor.

Catchings is a 5-time WNBA All-Star and 5-time All-WNBA selection. She is also President of the WNBA Players Association. She missed 13 regular-season games in 2007 with a left foot injury. She returned, but injured her Achilles’ tendon during in the Eastern Conference finals against Detroit and underwent rehabilitation.

She was paired with Katie Douglas as an all-star duo in the 2008 Season, but the Fever was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The duo became more successful in the following season as the franchise was able to reach the WNBA Finals, only to lose to the Phoenix Mercury.

Catchings ranked first in the Eastern Conference Standings and earned the WNBA Most Valuable Players award in the 2011 Season. Her performance dwindled during the playoffs and she also suffered from a right foot injury.

In the following season, Catchings was at the power forward position as the Fever made changes to their line-up. The Fever went on to the finals and eventually defeated the defending champions, Minnesota Lynx, in the 2012 championship.

Catchings suffered from a sore back and missed 17 games during the 2014 Season. She was named as the all-time leading playoff scorer in the league even if the Fever was unable to win the 2014 WNBA Finals against the Chicago Sky.

Catchings was paired with Marissa Coleman in the 2015 Season and the team advanced to the finals but was beaten by Minnesota Lynx. She passed Lisa Leslie as the league’s all-time leader in regular season rebounds during the 2016 Season upon catching her 3,308th rebound.

She also played for international basketball leagues, such as Chuncheon Woori Bank Hansae from 2006 to 2007, Lotos Gdynia from 2008 to 2009, and Galatasaray from 2009 to 2011.

Career Accomplishments:

• Gold medal, 2004 Athens Olympic Games
• Gold medal, 20008 Beijing Olympic Games
• Gold medal, 2012 London Olympic Games
• Gold medal, 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games
• Gold medal, 2002 China World Championship
• Gold medal, 2010 Czech Republic World Championship
• Bronze medal, 2006 Brazil World Championship
• WNBA champion (2012)
• WNBA Finals MVP (2012)
• WNBA MVP (2011)
• 10-time WNBA All-Star (2002, 2003, 2005–2007, 2009, 2011, 2013–2015)
• 7-time All-WNBA First Team (2002, 2003, 2006, 2009–2012)
• 5-time All-WNBA Second Team (2004, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015)
• 5-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012)
• 10-time WNBA All-Defensive First Team (2005–2013, 2015)
• 2-time WNBA All-Defensive Second Team (2014, 2016)
• 7-time WNBA steals leader (2002, 2005–2007, 2009–2010, 2013)
• WNBA Rookie of the Year (2002)
• WNBA Top 20@20 (2016)
• WNBA all-time steals leader
• WNBA playoffs all-time leading scorer
• WNBA playoffs all-time rebounding leader
• WNBA playoffs all-time steals leader
• Member of All-Decade Team
• Member of Top 15 Team
• NCAA champion (1998)
• 3-time Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award (2010, 2013, 2016)
• Polish National League champion (2009)
• 2-time Turkish Cup winner (2010, 2011)