Today the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame has announced their Class of 2015; the 17th Class that the Knoxville, Tennessee based institution has inducted.
The unarguable headliner of this Class is Lisa Leslie, who led the United States to four consecutive Gold Medals in the Olympics. Leslie would play her College ball at the University of Southern California and was named the Player of the Year in 1994. Following the formation of the WNBA (which first took the court in 1997), Leslie would star for the Los Angeles Sparks, the flagship franchise of the new league.
In L.A., Leslie would win the WNBA MVP three times and was named a First Team All WNBA selection eight times. Most importantly for Leslie, she was able to finally lead the Sparks to the WNBA Title in 2001 and repeated the effort again in 2002.
Joining Leslie is Janeth Arcain, the main star of the Brazilian National Team in the 90’s. Professionally, Arcain played for the Houston Comets of the WNBA and would be a focal point of the Comets squad that won the first four WNBA Titles. She would also earn First Team honors in her career.
Another inductee this year is Janet Harris, who was a standout player at the University of Georgia. Harris was the first NCAA player to record 2,500 Points and 1,250 Rebounds.
Kurt Budke is posthumously inducted. Budke passed away in 2011 in a plane crash and was coaching the Oklahoma State Cowgirls at the time. Budke is recognized as one of the most successful Junior College Head Coach and had revitalized the OSU program.
Current Los Angeles Sparks Head Coach, Gail Goestenkors is being inducted also. Goestenkors primarily enters based on her work with Duke University and at the University of Texas. She was named the Coach of the Year in 2003 and took the Blue Devils to four straight Final Fours.
The Class is completed by Oregon High School Coach, Brad Smith and the 1972-74 Immaculata College who enter in the “Trailblazers of the Game” showcase.
We would like to congratulate this year’s Class.
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