Lisa Leslie elected into Naismith Hall of Fame


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Lisa Leslie has been named one of the 11 members of the class of 2015 for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. She will also be inducted to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame later this year.

In her tenure as a Trojan (1990-1994), Leslie was a National Player of the Year and an All-American. Following her graduation from USC, Leslie was a three-time WNBA MVP and a four-time Olympic gold medalist.

As the third Women of Troy basketball player to be named to the Hall of Fame, Leslie stands in elite company. Cheryl Miller and Cynthia Cooper, USC’s current women’s basketball coach, are the other former Trojans already in the Hall of Fame. Also in the class of 2015 is former USC men’s basketball coach, George Raveling.

From early on in her basketball career, Leslie made a name for herself. When she first started playing basketball in junior high — at the height of 6-foot-1 — Leslie was a force to be reckoned with. She continued to mature in her play and garner attention from top colleges across the country.

In 1991, her first year at USC, Leslie was named the National Freshman of the Year and helped USC to the Pac-10 title. Leading the country in scoring and rebounding, Leslie was the first rookie of the Pac-10 to be selected for the first team and for NCAA Freshman of the Year.

She carried her outstanding freshman year and continued to dazzle on the court for the Women of Troy the rest of her time in school. Her career at USC was composed of countless accolades as she was a three-time All-American (1992-1994), four-time All-Pac-10 team member (first Pac-10 player to ever do so) and as a senior she was the unanimous 1994 Naismith National Player of the Year.

Her presence is still felt at USC as her retired #33 jersey hangs up in the rafters of the Galen Center. Also, she is still USC’s all-time leading shot blocker (321), No. 3 leading scorer (20.1 ppg), No. 4 rebounder (10.1 rpg), No. 5 in free throws made (461) and No. 8 in all-time steals (228).

On an Olympic stage, Leslie helped the USA capture the gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Games, the 2000 Sydney Games, the 2004 Athens Games and the 2008 Beijing Games.

In the WNBA, Leslie was a member of the Los Angeles Sparks for 13 seasons. In 2001 and 2002, Leslie led the Sparks to back-to-back WNBA Championships.

Not only was Leslie the first woman to ever dunk in a professional basketball game, but she also was named to the All-WNBA first team eight times and the second team four times, and was honored as a Western Conference All-Star eight times and received MVP honors several times.

She is still the WNBA’s leader in career rebounds and second in career blocked shots. Her retired #9 uniform — one of two for the Sparks — hangs high in the rafters at the Staples Center to commemorate her legacy with the Sparks.