Indiana’s “do-everything” forward is in her thirteenth season in the WNBA after leading the Fever to the 2012 WNBA championship. Tamika Catchings earned WNBA Finals MVP honors just one year after capturing her first regular-season MVP honor in 2011.
Catchings, who is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, was the only WNBA player in 2012 to start every regular season and playoff game as well as every game in the Olympics. She was named the WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year again last season, receiving the award an unprecedented five times.
Off the court, Catchings—an alum of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences—is one of the country’s most highly regarded citizen-athletes. She was named by former Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton to serve on the US Department of State’s Council to Empower Women and Girls Through Sports—a program run by UT’s Center for Sport, Peace, and Society in cooperation with the US State Department.
In 2012, she was a spokesperson for Indy’s Super Cure, a community initiative of the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee to aid in research and donation of healthy breast tissue, and she was named an NBA/WNBA ambassador for Sanofi’s “Dribble to Stop Diabetes” campaign. Catchings also serves on the board of trustees of the Women’s Sports Foundation and is the current president of the WNBA Players Association
In 2011, she was voted a Top 5 Finalist for the United Nations NGO Positive Peace Award, and she was one of ten “Dream Team for Public Service” finalists for the Jefferson Award for outstanding service by an athlete. Catchings was the first recipient of the WNBA’s Dawn Staley Leadership Award, presented in 2008 to the player who best exemplifies the characteristics of a leader in the community and reflects Staley’s leadership, spirit, charitable efforts, and love for the game.
Catchings, who is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, was the only WNBA player in 2012 to start every regular season and playoff game as well as every game in the Olympics. She was named the WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year again last season, receiving the award an unprecedented five times.
Off the court, Catchings—an alum of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences—is one of the country’s most highly regarded citizen-athletes. She was named by former Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton to serve on the US Department of State’s Council to Empower Women and Girls Through Sports—a program run by UT’s Center for Sport, Peace, and Society in cooperation with the US State Department.
In 2012, she was a spokesperson for Indy’s Super Cure, a community initiative of the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee to aid in research and donation of healthy breast tissue, and she was named an NBA/WNBA ambassador for Sanofi’s “Dribble to Stop Diabetes” campaign. Catchings also serves on the board of trustees of the Women’s Sports Foundation and is the current president of the WNBA Players Association
In 2011, she was voted a Top 5 Finalist for the United Nations NGO Positive Peace Award, and she was one of ten “Dream Team for Public Service” finalists for the Jefferson Award for outstanding service by an athlete. Catchings was the first recipient of the WNBA’s Dawn Staley Leadership Award, presented in 2008 to the player who best exemplifies the characteristics of a leader in the community and reflects Staley’s leadership, spirit, charitable efforts, and love for the game.
Tamika Catchings
2013 Alumni Promise Award Winner
2013 Alumni Promise Award Winner
