WNBA Legend Tamika Catchings Makes Major Personal Announcement
After entering the league as the Indiana Fever's No. 3 overall pick in the 2001 WNBA draft, Catchings went on to notch Rookie of the Year honors, 10 WNBA All-Star selections, a WNBA MVP trophy (2011), a WNBA championship title and a WNBA Finals MVP. The former National Player of the Year also notched four Olympic gold medals with Team USA.
Advertisement
Catchings, 45, just added another outstanding accomplishment to her resume.
On Tuesday, the retired women's basketball icon announced the completion of her Executive MBA degree from Notre Dame University.
"Life lately… Thankful for the journey and the amazing people I got to do life with the last 18 months! Memories of a lifetime and another dream fulfilled! #LetTheJourneyContinue #Friendship #Lifetime #DreamsDoComeTrue #EMBA #ClassOf2025 @NotreDame @NDBusiness," Catchings wrote on X.
Catchings' work ethic clearly hasn't slowed since her retirement from basketball in 2016. In a recent interview, Fever head coach Stephanie White compared Caitlin Clark's elite work ethic to Catching's.
Advertisement
"I don't want to put words in Caitlin Clark's mouth, but when you have somebody who works like she works on a daily basis, that is a perfectionist, that does things on such an elite level, they want to be the best," White said.
"I compare her work ethic to the only other player who I've seen that works like this is Tamika Catchings, who is the all-time greatest. One of the all-time greats."
Catchings will no doubt be tuned in for the Fever's regular-season opener against the Chicago Sky on May 17.
Related: Rebecca Lobo Reacts to Groundbreaking Caitlin Clark Announcement
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
28 minutes ago
- USA Today
Indiana Fever assistant led Caitlin Clark through uncharted injury waters
Caitlin Clark's second WNBA season with the Indiana Fever has gotten off to a frustrating start due to separate injury stints that have sidelined the star guard for a combined 10 games. Prior to the left quadriceps and left groin injuries that sidelined Clark this season, Clark had played in 185 straight games across college and the start of her WNBA career. Given her run of good health and relative unfamiliarity navigating back from inury, Clark has needed someone to lean on. Fever assistant coach Briann January has been key in that regard. January, who had several injuries plague her throughout her phenomenal 15-year career that included stops in Indiana (2009-17), Phoenix (2018-19), Connecticut (2020-21), and Seattle (2022). January tore her ACL in June 2011, forcing her to miss most of the Fever season. She then tore her right meniscus during Game 5 of the 2015 WNBA Finals, and she played through the injury and had surgery following the season. January suffered a torn meniscus again in the same knee in 2017, missing the final weeks of the Fever's season. On top of all this, she also dealt with minor foot injuries throughout the 2019 season with the Phoenix Mercury. With a laundry list of injuries from her playing career, January was still able to collect several accolades, including being a 2015 WNBA champion with the Fever, a 2014 WNBA All-Star selection, a five-time WNBA All-Defensive First Team selection, and a two-time WNBA All-Defensive Second Team selection. With Clark still in the early stages of what will eventually be a legendary WNBA career, there is nobody better to guide her through the difficulties of recovery than January. 'Coach Bri, she's been through injuries herself, and she's always kind of just been there,' Clark said before Indiana's game against Golden State on Wednesday. 'Even if I'm in the weight room extra after practice, like she'll come in there and and talk to me and just help me work through the extra lifting that I have to do, because she's experienced those type of things as a player, and she kind of knows how it goes, and knows that those days can get long. So I really appreciate her.' Being an injured athlete, regardless of the severity, can evoke a range of emotions, from frustration over what caused the injury to feeling left out while attending team activities. For Clark, January has provided a calming influence as the second-year WNBA phenom deals with the emotions of her recovery and snapping a six-year streak of never missing a game due to injury, which dates back to her high school years. "It's been challenging mentally, just, you know, staying in it," Clark said Tuesday. "You're way more busy when you're hurt than (when you're playing). You're coming in and all you do is, you know, scout, film and come out here and walk through things. I've been here for hours and hours on hours trying to get my body right and do everything I can to put myself in a position to be available the rest of the year.' Regarding January, the former Fever icon and current assistant coach wants to make sure Clark takes her time in recovery, absorbs knowledge from the staff on both the sidelines and in coaching meetings, and observes the game from a different perspective. 'It's not just lace them up and hoop. Can't do that anymore, right?' January said. 'Like, the season is long, 44-game sprint. Taking care of your body is a real big priority. And I'm really proud of the way she's kind of been attacking this.' 'We [January and the 2015 Indiana coaching staff] were able to talk basketball and really dissect the game, and that helped me as a point guard come back. I came back from my ACL injury after being able to sit in those coaches meetings in 2012, and I played the best basketball I had up until that point. We won a championship. And so that sitting out really helped me. And so, just from my experience, trying to help Caitlin in that same regard, like talk through the game, help her see it in a different perspective.' As Clark and the Fever continue through the 2025 season, hopefully, the wisdom and guidance of January will allow the Hawkeyes legend to prosper in an already impressive career. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Scout on X: @SpringgateNews
38 minutes ago
Darcy Graham red-carded as Fiji beats Scotland 29-14 on the 2nd match of its Pacific tour
SUVA, Fiji -- Fiji conceded a try after two minutes but rallied to score four tries and beat 14-man Scotland 29-14 in a one-off test match on Saturday. Scotland was a man down from the 66th minute when winger Darcy Graham was sent off after receiving a second yellow card. Graham was first sent to the sin-bin in the 35th minute for an early tackle. The TMO ruled out a penalty try on that occasion but Fiji immediately scored its first try through captain Tevita Ikanivere. The second yellow card came when Graham was ruled to have deliberately impeded Fiji and prevented a certain try from being scored. The penalty try that resulted gave Fiji its final 15-point margin. Scotland also lost hooker Ewan Ashman to a yellow card in the ninth minute in an undisciplined performance. Winger Kyle Rowe scored the first try of the match only two minutes after the kickoff and New Zealand-born flyhalf Fergus Burke converted for a 7-0 lead. Fiji, which lost 21-18 to Australia last weekend, narrowed the lead with a penalty to flyhalf Caleb Muntz in the 20th minute, then took its first lead at 8-7 with Ikanivere's try. Kalaveti Ravouvou sawed through the Scotland defense to score in the 39th minute and Fiji took a 15-7 lead to halftime. Scotland opened the second half with a slick try to center Tom Jordan, converted by Burke, which cut the lead to a point at 15-14. Fiji replied with a superb try to the Toulon winger and Olympic sevens gold medalist Jiuta Wainiqolo to increase its lead to 22-14 before the penalty try sealed its win. The win was Fiji's second over Scotland in five official tests and adds evidence that Fiji deserves to be included among the top 12 nations in world rugby in next year's inaugural Nations Cup. Scotland beat New Zealand Maor i 29-26 at Whangārei, New Zealand.
38 minutes ago
Katie Taylor beats Amanda Serrano for a third time to remain undisputed 140-pound champion
NEW YORK -- After Katie Taylor had defeated her for the third time to remain the undisputed 140-pound champion, Amanda Serrano was in tears. Not because of the sadness over her loss, but because of the appreciation for where women's boxing has gone since the two champions started their trilogy three years ago. Taylor won by scores of 97-93 Friday night on two judges' cards, while the third had it even at 95-95, for a majority decision. It was the third straight narrow finish between the two, after Taylor won a split decision in their first bout and a narrow unanimous decision in the rematch. It was another festive atmosphere in front of another sold-out crowd of more than 19,000 at Madison Square Garden that was split between Irish and Puerto Rican fans, just the way it was when they first fought here on April 30, 2022, in what was the first women's boxing match to headline the arena. This time, the arena hosted its first all-women's card that streamed on Netflix, with many of the fighters saying during the leadup they owed their opportunity to the interest created by the Taylor-Serrano trilogy. 'It was truly an amazing night for all of us women and I'm crying because it's all because of you guys,' Serrano told the crowd in the ring afterward. 'You guys support us women and thanks to all of you we're able to show our skills.' Back in Madison Square Garden, site of their first bout, Taylor improved to 25-1 in a fight that perhaps wasn't as exciting as their first two, but once again was almost too close to call. 'We made history again three times,' said Taylor, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist. 'It's such a privilege to share the ring with her and we're history makers forever, and my name is embedded with Amanda's forever and I'm so happy about that.' Serrano (47-4-1) never really hurt Taylor this time, the expected final fight between the two, the way she did a couple times in the previous fights, and held her hands over her eyes when the first score announced was the even card, perhaps knowing already then she hadn't done enough to pull it out. The Associated Press scored it 95-95. Serrano was all smiles early in a joyous ring walk accompanied by the Knicks City Dancers, but it was the same heartbreak in the end. There were hardly any decisive rounds, with neither fighter able to sustain much offense as the two-minute rounds flew by. Serrano has been fighting her recent bouts with three-minute rounds, as in men's boxing, and has contended that Taylor backed out of an agreement to use that format for this fight. There were no meaningful punches in the first round, after Serrano stunned Taylor right away last November in their second fight. By the third, they were trading punches and both landing with the type of flurries they had produced so many of over their first two bouts, but there wasn't much more of that. Serrano seemed to fight more cautiously and keep her distance, perhaps remembering how she was bloodied by a clash of heads in the rematch. Serrano, the seven-division world champion who is still a champion at 126 pounds, which she feels is her best weight, was again attempting an even bigger jump than in the first fight. Taylor was still fighting at the lightweight limit 135 pounds then, but has since moved up to become undisputed in a second division. Irish and Puerto Rico flags were all over the arena and fans began loudly singing and dancing during the co-main event, while Alycia Baumgardner (16-1) was beating Jennifer Miranda (12-1) to retain her undisputed 130-pound titles as a countdown clock began showing the time remaining until the Taylor-Serrano fight. There were 17 world titles from the four major sanctioning bodies on the line during the night in what 'Guinness World Records' said set the mark for most on a single fight card. Shadasia Green (15-1) edged Savannah Marshall (13-2), whose only previous loss was to Claressa Shields, by split decision to unify super middleweight titles and earn a $250,000 bonus for the performance of the night. In the final fight of the preliminary portion of the card, Australia's Cherneka Johnson (18-2, 8 KOs) pounded Shurretta Metcalf (14-5-1) until the fight was stopped in the ninth round to become the undisputed bantamweight champion. Ellie Scotney (11-0) added a third super bantamweight belt to the two she already held with a unanimous decision victory over Yamileth Mercado (24-4).
