Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Chamique Holdsclaw Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame

A soror of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is headed to Springfield.

Chamique Holdsclaw, one of the greatest players in the history of women’s basketball and a powerful voice for mental health awareness, has been named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026, according to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The announcement was made April 4 in Indianapolis during the NCAA Men’s Final Four weekend and broadcast live on ESPN2. Holdsclaw will be enshrined during the Hall of Fame’s enshrinement ceremonies on August 14–15 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Holdsclaw, an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., built one of the most decorated careers in the history of women’s basketball. At the University of Tennessee, she led the Lady Volunteers to three consecutive NCAA national championships from 1996 to 1998 under legendary coach Pat Summitt — the first time that feat had ever been accomplished in women’s college basketball. She was a two-time Naismith College Player of the Year (1998, ’99), a four-time Kodak All-American, and finished her college career as the SEC’s all-time leading scorer, as reported by the Hall of Fame.

Selected first overall in the 1999 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics, Holdsclaw went on to a professional career that left no doubt about her place among the all-time greats. She was a six-time WNBA All-Star (1999–03, ’05), the 1999 Rookie of the Year, and the 2002 scoring champion, averaging 16.9 points and 7.6 rebounds across 11 seasons with the Washington Mystics (1999–04), Los Angeles Sparks (’05–07), Atlanta Dream (’09), and San Antonio Silver Stars (’10), according to the Hall of Fame. She won an Olympic gold medal with the United States women’s national team in 2000, and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame welcomed her in 2018.

An advocate for mental health, she fought through bipolar disorder and severe anxiety in public, was open about a struggle that brought her to her lowest point, and chose to use that experience in service of others. She documented her journey in the film Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw, and has since become an ambassador with the JED Foundation and Laureus Sport for Good, traveling to campuses and communities across the country to make it easier for the next person to ask for help.

The championship résumé earned her this moment. The courage she showed off the court secured her legacy.

The enshrinement ceremony is set to take place August 14–15, 2026, in Springfield, Massachusetts.