Sue Bird, Fowles, Pondexter, Beard lead women’s hoops HOF class

Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, Cappie Pondexter and Alana Beard will headline the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

The four former players — stars at the collegiate level, multiple-time WNBA All-Stars and WNBA champions — were announced as Hall of Famers on Friday and will be inducted during a June 14 ceremony at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville.

Also to be inducted are coaches Lucille Kyvallos, who served as head coach for West Chester State College (Pa.) and Queens College (N.Y.), and Mark Campbell of Union University (Tenn.), as well as Danielle Donehew, executive director of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and a women’s basketball administrator.

“We are honored to pay tribute to seven distinguished legends of this exceptional sport,” Hall president Dana Hart said. “They exemplify the highest standards in women’s basketball and have made substantial contributions to the sport along with shaping the game’s historical trajectory.”

Bird won at every level, including five Olympic gold medals, four WNBA championships with Seattle and two NCAA titles at UConn. A 12-time All-Star, she was selected as one of the WNBA’s best 25 players of all time in 2021, along with Fowles and Pondexter.

“She managed to be the brains behind the curtain and just made sure that everything went exactly the way it was supposed to go,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Friday night. “And then she did that in the WNBA, and she did that in the Olympics, and did it better than anybody’s ever done it.

“There’s not been a point guard playing the game of women’s basketball that’s played it better, or longer, or had more success.”

Fowles won WNBA titles with Minnesota in 2015 and 2017 and was MVP of the Finals both times. She was on the WNBA all-defensive team eight times.

“Syl is the most dominant center to ever play in the WNBA and was an impossible matchup on both ends of the floor,” Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Syl would outwork you on duck-ins to score the ball, beat you to the spot to deny a post touch, and come across the lane from the help side to send a shot to the fifth row. But the joy she brought to the team, the franchise, and the fanbase every day is what we will cherish forever.”

Beard was a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and won a WNBA title with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016.

Pondexter won two WNBA titles with Phoenix in 2007 and 2009, earning Finals MVP honors in 2007.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.