MONTVILLE, Conn. — Former Lady Bears Head Coach Kim Mulkey was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame alongside eight other basketball legends on Saturday evening.
Mulkey, who originally chose her former coach and boss at Louisiana Tech, Leon Barmore to present her -- Barmore could not travel due to illness -- was presented by Michael Jordan. Jordan was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009 and the two competed in the 1984 Olympics together.
Mulkey was one of nine inductees, which on the women's basketball side also included former Tennessee, Indiana Fever and USA Basketball standout Tamika Catchings, and longtime Bentley coach Barbara Stevens.
Her induction comes after being part of six national championships. As head coach at Baylor, she led the Lady Bears to three national championships; she won two as the starting point guard at Louisiana Tech and added another as an assistant coach for the Lady Techsters.
She's the only person in college basketball history, men's or women's, to win national titles as a head coach, assistant coach and an athlete.
In her speech, she said to the other inductees, "while were the ones being honored and recognized, we're here because of one of life's biggest ironies," said Mulkey. "We get the credit when it should be shared with and by so many others, I'm only here because of all the great people that coached me."
Mulkey left Baylor to return home to LSU in late April but thanked everyone who welcomed her and her family to Waco 21 years ago and all those in Louisiana that made her feel right at home again.
The Class of 2020 includes:
- Patrick Baumann
- Kobe Bryant
- Tamika Catchings
- Tim Duncan
- Kevin Garnett
- Kim Mulkey
- Barbara Stevens
- Eddie Sutton
- Rudy Tomjanovich