April 5, 2022 

Swin Cash, Lindsay Whalen headline the Hall of Fame Class of 2022

By Gabriella Lewis

The real winner of this year's Hall of Fame induction? Immaculata University

On Saturday, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the 13 honorees making up their Class of 2022. Amongst the inductees were women’s legends Swin Cash, Marianne Stanely, Lindsay Whalen and Theresa Shank-Grentz.

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So who are these greats?

For many years Swin Cash’s name has been synonymous with excellence, beginning during her prolific UConn career. Cash won two NCAA National Championships in Storrs, which was followed by a 15 year WNBA career. In her 15 W years, Cash won three WNBA Championships, two with the Detroit Shock and one with the Seattle Storm. In addition, Cash helped bring home gold at the 2004 and 2012 Olympic Games. Swin retired in 2016 in a Liberty jersey and has since served as the New Orleans Pelicans Vice President of Basketball Operations/Team Development.

Just a night before UConn would compete in this year’s March Madness title game, her college coach Geno Auriemma told the media, “The committee voting Swin Cash into the Hall of Fame might have been the easiest vote they’ll ever have in all of women’s basketball history.”

Current Indiana Fever Head Coach Marianne Stanely has been at the coach’s helm for 45 years. Stanely spent 22 years in the collegiate ranks with coaching accolades as a college coach with Old Dominion (1977-1987), Penn (1987-1989), USC (1989-1993), Stanford (1995-1996) and Cal (1995-1996). In 1985 she brought home an NCAA National Championship and back-to-back AIAW National Titles in 1979 and 1980. Since 2000, excluding a short Rutgers pit stop, she bounced around WNBA assistant coaching gigs until being named the Fever’s head coach in 2020.

The most decorated professional women’s player on the list is Lindsay Whalen, a core member of the Minnesota Lynx’s dominant 2010s reign. Whalen finished her career with four WNBA titles, two Olympic gold medals and five All-Star appearances. In addition, she sits third on the all-time assists leaderboard and is a three-time WNBA First Team member. As a college player, Whalen led the Minnesota Gophers to some of their most winning seasons of all time and their only Final Four appearance. Since 2018 Whalen has been the team’s coach and will stay in Minnesota until at least 2025.

Amongst many others, Lynx teammate Rebekkah Brunson took to Twitter to congratulate her, “I love my best friends are HALL OF FAMERS!!!”

Theresa Shank-Grentz was elected via the Women’s Veterans Direct Elect Committee, and although to modern basketball fans, her name may sound unfamiliar, her accomplishments stand the test of time. Shank-Grentz took home three consecutive AIAW National Championships and was awarded many individual accolades. She historically played in the 1974 title game, which was the first-ever live-covered women’s basketball game in the United States. Shank-Grentz would later go on to coach at St. Josephs’s, Rutgers, the University of Illinois, Lafayette and USA Basketball.

But who really won this year’s inductee Hall of Fame class? Immaculata University, where both Shank-Grentz and Stanley played their college ball.

Written by Gabriella Lewis

Gabriella is The Next's Atlanta Dream and SEC beat reporter. She is a Bay Area native currently studying at Emory University.

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