Class of 2017 – Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

Kara Wolters

Wolters helped guide USA Basketball to a gold medal in the 2000 Olympic Games • She won gold medals at the 1997 World University Games, 1998 World Championships, and 1999 US Olympic Cup
She helped guide the Houston Comets to the 1999 WNBA Championship
Wolters helped guide the University of Connecticut to the school first NCAA National Championship in 1995
She was on the All-Final Four Team and averaged 20.5 ppg in the 1995 Women’s Final Four
In 1996, Wolters received the Victor Award as the nation’s top female collegiate player
She was named the 1997 AP National College Player of the Year and was runner-up for the Naismith National Player of the Year
Wolters was named on the Big East All-Tournament Team four times
She holds the rebounding record (1286) and shot’s blocked record (396) at the University of Connecticut
Wolters is one of only a few women to receive a gold medal in the Olympics, an NCAA Championship and a WNBA Championship

Swoopes was named the Naismith Player of the Year and WBCA Player of the Year in 1993
Swoopes helped guide USA Basketball to gold medals in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics
She won a bronze medal in the 1994 World Championships
Swoopes was the first player to be signed to the WNBA in 1997
She led the Houston Comets to the first four consecutive WNBA Championships
Swoopes was named the WNBA MVP in 2000 and was named to the WNBA All-Star team six times
She was WNBA Defensive Player of the Year three times
She was named to the WNBA’s Top 20 Team in 2016
Swoopes scored 1000 points in 46 games at Texas Tech, setting more than 10 school records and winning the NCAA National Championship in 1993
Swoopes was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016

O’Neal was the head women’s basketball coach at Southern Connecticut from 1962-1976. She revolutionized the women’s basketball program there, elevating it from a club sport in the 1960’s to a varsity sport in the 1970’s • O’Neal is the former president of the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women
She was the recipient of the 2004 WBCA Jostens-Berenson Lifetime Achievement Award
O’Neal served in several national leadership positions, including NCAA Long-Range Planning Committee, Women’s Basketball Rules Committee, Sears Cup Selection Committee and NACDA Executive Board
In 1979, she was the Junior Select Team Head Coach for USA Basketball that captured gold
She made eight straight appearances in the National Women’s Collegiate Championships, the only school to qualify for each of the first eight championships
She coached two players (Mary Anne O’Connor and Sue Rojcewicz) who played on the 1976 U.S. Women’s Olympic Team
In 1988, she was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2001, she was inducted into the Southern Connecticut Hall of Fame
In 2011, O’Neal was given the NACWAA Lifetime Achievement Award

Insell has over 40 years’ experience coaching women’s basketball • He has more than 1,000 victories between both Shelbyville Central High School and Middle Tennessee State University
From 1977 to 2005 as head coach at Shelbyville Central High School, he led his teams to 21 District Championships, 14 Regional Championships, 5 State Runner-ups, 10 State Championships, 2 USA TODAY National Runner-ups, and 2 USA TODAY National Championships
He posted a .842 winning percentage at Shelbyville High School with an overall record of 686-129
Insell holds Tennessee State records for consecutive wins with 110 and consecutive State Championships with four
In 1989 and 1991, he was named the USA Today National High School Coach of the Year
In 2002, he was selected by USA Basketball as head coach of the South Region in Youth Development Festival
Insell and his 1990 team were the first high school team honored by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame as Team of the Year
Insell was named the 1992 WBCA National High School Coach of the Year

Grant became the first women’s athletic director at the University of Iowa • From 1973-2000, she was the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women at the University of Iowa, which included 12 NCAA championship sports than won a combined 27 Big Ten conference titles
In 1992, she was named the National Administrator of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association
In 1970, she was given the Ontario Sports Award for Outstanding Contributions to Canadian Amateur Sport
In 1998, Grant was awarded the NCAA Honda Award of Merit
In 2006, she was inducted into the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame
She was inducted into the NACDA Hall of Fame in 2008
Grant became a Member of the Board of Directors of the USA Field Hockey Foundation
She is a founding member of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW)

Bell began officiating high school basketball in 1975, moved on to NAIA and NJCAA games in 1979, and first officiated Division I and II games in 1981
She officiated 15 NCAA Division I Women’s Final Fours, including 13 consecutive from 1993-2004
She officiated the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta
In 1991, Bell was named Naismith College Women’s Basketball Official of the Year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club
She is the Coordinator of Women’s Basketball Officials for six different conferences (Atlantic Sun, OVC, SEC, Southland, SWAC, Sunbelt)
In 1990, Bell officiated the World Championships held in Malaysia
Bell served as a member of the U.S. Olympic Selection Committee for officials from 1996 to 2004
She officiated the 1994 Goodwill Games (Russia) and the 1993 World University Games (United States)
In 2012, Bell was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame