Minnesota legend Lindsay Whalen to be inducted into Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

After a long career in the WNBA and a transition into coaching, Lindsay Whalen will be recognized as a Hall-of-Famer.

Lindsay Whalen fields questions during a press conference at Williams Arena after her recent appointment to head coach on Friday, April 13, 2018 .

by Tony Liebert, Sports Reporter

Published April 1, 2022

Minnesota women’s basketball’s all-time program leading scorer and current head coach Lindsay Whalen will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2022, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski.

Hailing from Hutchinson, Minn. Whalen became the Gophers’ all-time leading scorer with 2,285 points throughout her four-year career.

She led Minnesota to its first-ever Final Four appearance in 2004, marking one of three straight NCAA Tournament appearances for the Gophers, who had just been to one tournament before her arrival.

Her long professional career spanned more than 12 seasons, highlighted by four WNBA Championships with the Minnesota Lynx, five WNBA All-Star game appearances and two Olympic gold medals with Team USA.

After becoming the league’s all-time winningest player, Whalen returned to the University of Minnesota to become the head coach of the women’s basketball program in 2018.

Whalen just completed her fifth season as head coach of the Gophers in a storied basketball career.