Tamika Catchings

Tamika Catchings

WNBA's Indiana Fever  – No. 24
Forward
Born	July 21, 1979 (1979-07-21) Stratford, New Jersey
Nationality	American
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	167 lb (76 kg)
High school	Adlai E. Stevenson, Duncanville
College	Tennessee
Draft	3rd overall, 2001 Indiana Fever
Profile	WNBA Info Page
WNBA Teams
Indiana Fever (2002–present)
Overseas Teams
Spartak Moscow (2005) Lotos Gdynia (2009) Galatasaray (2010, 2011)
Awards and Honors
Member of All-Decade Team Member of Top 15 Team Olympic Gold Medalist (2004, 2008) 7× WNBA All-Star (2002, 2003, 2005-2007, 2009, 2011) 4× Defensive Player of the Year (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010) Rookie of the Year (2002) Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award (2010) Most Valuable Player (2011)
Medal record Women's basketball Competitor for the United States Olympic Games Gold 2004 Athens Team competition Gold 2008 Beijing Team competition World Championship Bronze 2006 Brazil Team competition

Tamika Devonne Catchings (born July 21, 1979 in Stratford, New Jersey) is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Fever of the WNBA and Turkish team Galatasaray. She is a prolific scorer close to and far from the basket, as well as a capable rebounder, ball handler, and defender. After playing at Adlai E. Stevenson High School and graduating from Duncanville High School, Tamika Catchings became one of the stars of the University of Tennessee women's basketball team. In 2001, she was drafted by the Indiana Fever. After sitting out the entire year in which she was drafted due to injury, she had an all-star rookie season in 2002. In 2011, she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in WNBA history.

Career

Catchings played for Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas, where she was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game where she scored twelve points. She is also one of only two players in the history of the sport to ever be officially credited with scoring a quintuple-double.

Catchings was an All-American with the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball for 1997–2001. As a freshman on the undefeated 1997–98 National champions, she was part of the "Three Meeks" with Semeka Randall and Chamique Holdsclaw. Catchings was drafted by the Indiana Fever in 2001. Unable to play her rookie season, she had an outstanding year in 2002 and was named WNBA Rookie of the Year. She has led Indiana Fever in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in six of her eight WNBA seasons. Catchings played for the USA women's basketball team at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, helping the team win the gold medal.

In 2005, she scored her 2,000th point in the WNBA. With this she became the fastest player to score 2000 career points in the WNBA, reaching the milestone in only four seasons of play. She is also the fastest to 1,000 rebounds, 400 assists, and 300 steals. In 2005, Catchings was also named the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. Catchings then repeated as Defensive Player of the Year in 2006. She was again named Defensive Player of the Year in 2009. Also during the 2009 season she led her Indiana Fever to their first ever Eastern Conference championship, however they fell short in their quest to win the WNBA title as they were defeated in five games by the Phoenix Mercury.

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. Five years later she was voted in by fans as one of the Top 15 players in the fifteen year history of the WNBA.

In 2011, she was the Most Valuable Player in the WNBA.

Catchings is a 5-time WNBA All-Star, a 5-time All-WNBA selection and is famous for recording the only ever quintuple double (25 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 steals and 10 blocks in 1997). She is also President of the WNBA Players Association.

WNBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game
PPG	Points per game	TO	Turnovers per game	FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	Bold	Career high		League leader

USA Basketball

Catchings was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009. The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.

Catchings was named as one of the National team members to represent the USA Basketball team in the WNBA versus USA Basketball. This game replaces the normal WNBA All-Star game with WNBA All-Stars versus USA Basketball, as part of the preparation for the FIBA World Championship for Women to be held in the Czech Republic during September and October 2010.

Personal

Catchings is the daughter of former NBA player Harvey Catchings. Her sister Tauja also played basketball at Stevenson and the University of Illinois, was drafted by the WNBA and now plays in Sweden. Tamika's cousin Bobby is a starting forward for Eastern Illinois University's basketball team. Tamika majored in Sports Management at the University of Tennessee.

Catchings helped Stevenson High School to Illinois's IHSA Div. AA State Championship in her Sophomore year in 1995 under head coach Frank Mattucci before moving to Texas. Her sophomore year at Stevenson she won Illinois Ms. Basketball (which at the time was the youngest player to ever win the award). In addition to leading Duncanville High to the state basketball title in her senior season (she played only two years at Duncanville after moving from the Chicago area), she also led the volleyball team to its only state title as a junior.

Catchings was born with a hearing disability, she wore a hearing aid as a young girl. In 2000, she was honored with the Reynolds Society Achievement Award by the world-famous Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. Catchings is a leading figure in the Indianapolis community, having started the Catch the Stars Foundation, Inc. which helps disadvantaged youth achieve their dreams. On June 24, 2008 Catchings was awarded the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award for her work in the Indianapolis community with her foundation.

Catchings refereed a game of 3-on-3 basketball played by Barack Obama along with local students Kokomo, Indiana at the Maple Crest Middle School on April 25, 2008. Fever teammate Alison Bales also played on Obama's team.

Awards and achievements

• 2011 WNBA MVP
• Six-time WNBA All-Star Selection
• Six-time All-WNBA Team

External links

• Tamika Catchings at WNBA.com
• Tamika Catchings's Official Website
• Indiana Fever Official Website