Diana Taurasi Adds Her Name to UConn’s Hall of Fame Legacy

The list of UConn women’s basketball Hall of Famers just got longer.

Diana Taurasi has been named a 2027 inductee into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

The announcement was made Thursday as part of a six-person class that also includes Sandy Brondello, Mike Thibault, Dee Kantner, Dr. Judith Holland and Molly Bolin Kazmer.

Taurasi will be enshrined on June 26, 2027, at the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville.

She becomes the ninth person with UConn ties to enter the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame since it opened in 1999.

Geno Auriemma was inducted in 2006.

Rebecca Lobo followed in 2010.

Jennifer Rizzotti went in 2013, Kara Wolters in 2017, Chris Dailey in 2018, Swin Cash in 2021, Maya Moore in 2024 and Sue Bird in 2025.

Now Taurasi joins that company.

Her coach from UConn made the case for her place in history long before this honor arrived.

“In my mind, the greatest basketball player ever to play college basketball,” Auriemma told reporters at the Final Four last year in Phoenix.

“And maybe the greatest WNBA player of all time.”

Taurasi won three NCAA championships at UConn — in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

The 2002 team went 39-0 and is widely considered the best in program history.

Seven future WNBA players were on that roster.

After college, Taurasi played 20 seasons in the WNBA.

She won three league titles: with the Phoenix Mercury in 2007, 2009 and 2014.

She was an 11-time All-Star.

She retired in 2025 as the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer with 10,646 points — more than 2,000 ahead of the next closest player.

Her international career was just as decorated.

Taurasi is the only basketball player — male or female — to win six Olympic gold medals.

She also won three FIBA World Championship golds.

Auriemma once said of her versatility: “You could put her anywhere on the floor and she would be the best player in the country at that position.”

Taurasi’s path to UConn started when she saw the Huskies play near her home in the Los Angeles area.

She decided then she wanted to play for the program.

Once she arrived in Storrs, her confidence and work ethic set her apart.

When asked in 2024 about playing at an All-Star level into her 40s, Taurasi kept it simple.

“You show up every single day and you work harder than the next person. It’s really just as simple as that,” she said before a game against the Connecticut Sun.

“There are no magic tricks. There’s nothing special going on on the court. Just get in the gym every single day before everyone and stay after everybody. It’s the only way I can do it. If I don’t do that I’m not even gonna get out there.”

Auriemma summed up her impact in one line back in 2003: “We got Diana, and you don’t.”

That season, Taurasi and the Huskies swept every major honor in women’s college basketball.

Taurasi is also considered a lock for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame once she becomes eligible.

Her induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame adds her name to a growing legacy at UConn.

The Hall of Fame, founded in 1999 and located in Knoxville, honors the greatest players, coaches, contributors and officials in women’s basketball history.

Michelle Marciniak, CEO of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, said in a statement: “For nearly thirty years, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame has honored the greatest of the game, and we are thrilled to welcome these six inductees into the distinguished seats of the Hall of Fame. Selection for this esteemed recognition celebrates the hard work, success, and record-breaking journeys for those to join this global class. We cannot wait to welcome the Class of 2027.”

Taurasi’s former teammate Sue Bird was inducted in 2025.

Swin Cash went in in 2021.

Both are also in the Naismith Hall of Fame.