The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame officially announced its 2026 class on Saturday, and University of Tennessee women’s basketball legends Chamique Holdsclaw and Candace Parker are among the individual inductees. Also going in as members of the 1996 U.S. Women’s National Team are two more UT standouts, including the late Nikki McCray-Penson and Carla McGhee.
“The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is proud to welcome the Class of 2026, a group that reflects the very best this sport has to offer,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. “From a referee who set the standard over four decades, to coaches who built dynasties at every level, to players who redefined their positions, to a visionary who changed how the game is played — and a women’s class headlined by a national team that helped launch an entire league, alongside three of the most accomplished players the women’s game has ever seen — we are honored to welcome them to Springfield.”
The Class of 2026 will be enshrined during festivities in Springfield, Mass., the Birthplace of Basketball, as well as at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., on August 14-15. VIP packages and single-event tickets to the 2026 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend are now available at hoophall.com/events/enshrinement-2026.
Holdsclaw and Parker, who both have banners hanging from the rafters above the court in Food City Center, will become the second and third Lady Vols to enter the Naismith Hall of Fame as individual honorees, following in Tamika Catchings’ footsteps. She was a member of the 2020 class that was belatedly enshrined in 2021 due to the pandemic. Along with McCray-Penson and McGhee, they bring the total of women with UT women’s basketball ties in that hall to eight.
The late Pat Summitt was inducted individually as a coach in 2000. She later posthumously joined Big Orange standouts Cindy Brogdon and Patricia Roberts in being enshrined in 2023 as players on the 1976 U.S. Olympic Team. That inaugural squad claimed a silver medal in Montreal. McCray-Penson and McGhee, meanwhile, helped the 1996 team to gold at the Atlanta Olympic Games.
Averaging 20.4 points and 8.8 rebounds during her standout career from 1995-99, Holdsclaw is Tennessee’s all-time leading scorer (3,025 points) and rebounder (1,295). The 6-foot-2 forward from Astoria, Queens, spurred the Lady Vols to three-straight NCAA titles from 1996-98, capping that trifecta with a perfect 39-0 season. The two-time Final Four Most Outstanding Player, two-time SEC Player of the Year and two-time SEC Tournament MVP also helped her squad claim SEC regular season trophies in 1998 and 1999 and league postseason hardware in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
Holdsclaw is one of only two UT players to earn WBCA All-America acclaim all four seasons and was a two-time national player of the year in 1998 and 1999 as well as the Naismith Player of the Century for the 1900s. She claimed the Honda Sports Award for Basketball in 1997 and 1998, was chosen for the 1998 Honda-Broderick Cup Athlete of the Year Award, which goes to the nation’s top female athlete in any sport, and walked away with the 1999 ESPY award for female athlete of the year.
After her college career, Holdsclaw was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1999 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics. She was voted the 1999 WNBA Rookie of the Year and was a six-time WNBA All-Star in a career that stretched until 2010 and also included stints in Los Angeles, Atlanta and San Antonio. An inductee into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010, Holdsclaw also had the opportunity of representing her country and winning gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
Parker, meanwhile, averaged 19.4 points and 8.8 rebounds from 2004-08, redshirting her first year before becoming the school’s No. 3 all-time career scorer (2,137 points) and the No. 8 all-time rebounder (972 rebounds). The 6-4 native of Naperville, Ill., could play guard, forward or center and propelled Tennessee to back-to-back NCAA crowns in 2007 and 2008, creating a buzz with her ability to dunk the basketball. She threw down seven during her career and recorded two during an NCAA Tournament game vs. Army in 2005.
Parker was a three-time WBCA All-American and All-SEC performer from 2006-08, a national player of the Year in 2007 and 2008, the SEC Player of the Year in 2007, the SEC Tournament MVP in 2006 and 2008, and the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player in 2007 and 2008. She also won the Honda Sports Award for Basketball in 2007 and 2008, the Honda-Broderick Cup Athlete of the Year Award in 2008 and the 2008 ESPY Award for female athlete of the year. During her time in orange, Tennessee won an SEC regular season title in 2007 and tournament trophies in 2005, 2006 and 2008.
Right after winning the 2008 Final Four, Parker was chosen No. 1 overall in the WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. During a career that saw her win WNBA titles with the Sparks (2016), Chicago Sky (2021) and Las Vegas Aces (2023), Parker was a seven-time WNBA All-Star. She won WNBA rookie of the year in 2008, WNBA MVP in 2008 and 2013, WNBA All-Star Game MVP in 2013, WNBA Finals MVP in 2016 and WNBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2020. In addition to her other 2008 successes, Parker helped the U.S. Olympic Team to a gold medal in 2008 in Beijing and later did the same in London in 2012. She is a 2019 inductee into the Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame and is slated to go into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in June 2026.
McCray-Penson and McGhee, meanwhile, played on a 1996 United States Women’s National Team that finished with an undefeated 8-0 record en route to gold in Atlanta, beating Brazil in the title game, 111-87, and compiling an average margin of victory of more than 30 points. Coached by Tara VanDerveer, the squad’s dominant performance helped elevate the global profile of women’s basketball and contributed to the launch of the WNBA later that year.
A native of Collierville, Tenn., McCray-Penson starred at Tennessee from 1991-95, averaging 12.4 points and 5.3 rebounds. She helped the Lady Vols win three SEC championships and two SEC Tournament titles, and she was part of the program’s runner-up NCAA Final Four finish in 1995. McCray-Penson was a WBCA and Naismith All-American in 1994 and 1995, a three-time All-SEC performer and the SEC Player of the Year in 1994 and 1995 as well. The 5-foot-11 forward remains the program’s No. 19 all-time scorer with 1,572 points.
McCray-Penson, who also was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning team in Sydney, played in the WNBA from 1997-2006, earning WNBA All-Star acclaim three times. She was a 2004 inductee into the Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame and was enshrined into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
McGhee, who hails from Peoria, Ill., averaged 6.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest from 1986-90, playing in 101 career games and contributing to NCAA title teams in 1987 and 1989 and overcoming serious injuries sustained in a car accident that sidelined her for the 1987-88 season. She also helped Tennessee snare an SEC regular-season crown in 1990 and tournament title in 1989.
The 6-3 forward’s best season came in 1989-90, when she started for the second-straight campaign and put up 9.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest. Perhaps fittingly, due to her amazing comeback from the car accident, McGhee was taken in the fourth round of the 1999 WNBA Draft and spent three seasons with the Orlando Miracle. She later was inducted into the Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007.
