University of Tennessee Athletics
CATCHINGS NAMED WNBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
August 19, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Aug. 19, 2002
By STEVE HERMAN
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (AP)
Tamika Catchings has the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award. The MVP trophy might be next.
The Indiana Fever's 6-foot-1 forward, who had to watch from the sideline last year while she rehabilitated her injured right knee, earned the rookie honor Friday after finishing the season as the league's only player to lead her team in points, rebounds and assists.
On Friday night, Catchings had 29 points and 11 rebounds in a 73-55 victory over New York in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
"I just want to be one of the best players in the league, the best player I can be," Catchings said. "The mid-range game is something I have to add, but more so, probably becoming more of a mental player."
Catchings ranked second in the league at 18.6 points a game, fourth with 8.6 rebounds and 10th at 3.7 assists. She also led the league at 2.9 steals.
"I don't think there's a better player in the league," said Fever coach Nell Fortner, who also is promoting her star rookie for most valuable player consideration. "She does it at a relentless level that is, to me, unmatched in this league. If it's not this year (MVP), then it's sometime very soon."
Catchings, the third overall pick in the 2001 WNBA draft out of Tennessee, received 48 of a possible 60 votes from a panel of writers and broadcasters, the league announced. Sue Bird of Seattle was second with eight, followed by Swin Cash of Detroit with three votes and Nikki Teasley of Los Angeles with one.
"I was in disbelief. I was like, `Are you serious?"' Catchings said of her reaction when she heard about the award. "I was really excited, though. I had to sit down on my bed and kind of regroup myself."
Fortner called Catchings a "fantastic teammate."
"This young woman reaches out to everyone and has made our team so much better on the floor and also in the locker room. She is an absolute consummate team player," Fortner said. "She is a true joy to coach, and I know she will be even so much better than she is right now because she works hard, she listens and she has tremendous goals and the work ethic to go with it."
Catchings admitted that league MVP is one of those goals.
"I feel like I have a chance," she said. "But if I don't get it, it's not going to be the end of the world. This is my rookie season, and so I'm satisfied with rookie of the year, I'm satisfied with being in the playoffs and the opportunity to compete until Labor Day."
Game 2 in the best-of-three series is in New York on Sunday. A third game, if necessary, would also be in New York on Tuesday night.
Catchings is the daughter of former NBA player Harvey Catchings, who attended the rookie award presentation at Conseco Fieldhouse before the playoff opener against the Liberty.
"This is one of the greatest moments of my life, having an opportunity to see my daughter achieve such a high level in a game that I played and enjoyed and loved," Harvey Catchings said. "To see her achieve a lot of the things I wasn't able to achieve is just very, very gratifying."
