Former Texas Tech Women’s Basketball star Sheryl Swoopes to be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Almost a year after being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of its 2016 class, Sheryl Swoopes will be receiving another accolade in her tremendous career: an induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Brownfield, Texas native played at Texas Tech from 1991-93. As a senior in 1993, Swoopes helped lead the Lady Raiders to a Southwest Conference regular season championship, and the NCAA National Championship.
Swoopes averaged 28.1 points-per-game, which made her the second highest scoring women’s basketball player that season. For her efforts, her jersey was retired in the 1994 season, when she was playing for the U.S. National Team.
Sheryl Swoopes was initially slated to play for the Texas Longhorns, however, she withdrew, and enrolled at Texas Tech two years later.
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At Texas Tech, Swoopes was instrumental in setting the bar high for the future of the Lady Raiders. Having set 30 records in women’s basketball, “including four Final Four records, three NCAA tournament records, four NCAA championship game records and eight Texas Tech school records, including the single-game school record for points (53), which still stands.” according to the Texas Tech press release.
Swoopes’ accomplishments far surpass her time at Texas Tech, however. She played in the WNBA from 1999-2007 with the Houston Comets, the Seattle Storm in 2008, and the Tulsa Shock in 2011. Swoopes was an assistant coach at Mercer Island H.S. (Washington State) in 2009, and the head coach at Loyola (Chicago) from 2013-16.
A gold medalist in 1996 (Atlanta), 2000 (Sydney), and 2004 (Athens), Swoopes was an iconic Olympian of her time, with medals in the World Cup, and Goodwill Games.
The 19th annual induction ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. EST, and will be available to view on ESPN3.com, and the Watch ESPN app. If you happen to be in the Knoxville, TN area, the event will take place at the Tennessee Theatre, and tickets are available at this link.
Other players being honored, are: Sally Bell, Christine Grant, Rick Insell, Louise O’Neal, Sheryl Swoopes, and Kara Wolters.