FIBA Basketball

2022 Class of FIBA Hall of Fame: Catarina Pollini

MIES (Switzerland) - Italian basketball legend Catarina Pollini is being inducted to the FIBA Hall of Fame in recognition of her amazing career at both club and country level.

The power forward, who handed Italy so many great moments over the years is being enshrined in the Class of 2022 as part of a nine-strong group that have all made huge contributions to the development of women's basketball.

Pollini first took to the court for the Italian national team back in 1983

Pollini is joined by Robyn Maher (Australia), Lisa Leslie (USA), Jurgita Streimikyte-Virbickiene (Lithuania) and Mame Maty Mbengue (Senegal). The Class also includes deserved recognition for a number of coaches including Geno Auriemma (USA), Antonio Barbosa (Brazil), Maria Planas (Spain) and Milan 'Ciga' Vasojevic (Serbia) who will be inducted posthumously.

Already inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame back in 2013, Pollini has had a big impact on basketball in her homeland and finished her career having played a record 252 senior games for Italy between 1983 and 1996, as well as scoring a record 3,903 points.

Pollini captained her country at two Olympic Games, including Atlanta 1996

A two-time Olympian, her national team outings included stepping out at the Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Games where she proudly captained her country. Pollini also appeared at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in both 1990 and 1994.

At the Continental level, her longevity and quality was underlined in a big way as she led Italy in a staggering seven consecutive editions of the FIBA Women's EuroBasket, managing to reach the Final in 1995 where she picked up a silver medal.

Pollini was a leading star for her national team, but also excelled at club level with an incredible 7 EuroLeague Women titles

Success also flowed in club basketball where Pollini shone brightly in EuroLeague Women and scooped an incredible seven titles with three different clubs, as well as adding a Ronchetti Cup to her resume.

She also did it in the WNBA too, being crowned champion in 1997 with the Houston Comets, while on Italian soil she conquered the League 12 times and added two Cups for good measure, cemeting her status as one of Italy's all-time greats, In the last chapter of her playing career from 2000 onwards, she moved to Spain and stepped out with distinction for Ensino and Ros Casares.

The FIBA Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on November 30 in Mies, Switzerland.

Name	Catarina POLLINI
Category of Inductee	Player (Power Forward)
Date of birth	March 16th 1966
Place of birth	Vicenza, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Height	1.96m - 6ft 4in
Clubs	Vicenza (1979- 1988 ) University of Texas (1989 ) Ahena Cesena ( 1989 - 1994 ) Pool Commense (1994-1998) Houston Comets (1997) Pallacanestro Schio (2000) Ensino CD (2000-2004, 2006, 2009) Ros Casares Valencia (2005) [/unordered]
Club highlights	Twelve-time Italian League Champion (1982-1988, 1990 1995-1998) Two-time Italian Cup winner (1995, 1997) Seven-time EuroLeague Women winner (1983, 1985-1988, 1991, 1995) Ronchetti Cup winner (1994) WNBA champion (1997) Spanish SuperCup Winner (2004) [/unordered]
National Team highlights	European Women's Championship for Cadettes bronze medalist (1982) European Championship for Junior Women bronze medalist (1983) Mediterreanean Games silver medalist (1993) FIBA Women's EuroBasket silver medalist (1995) Played in two Olympic Games (1992, 1996) Played in two FIBA Women's Basketball World Cups (1990, 1994) Played in seven consective FIBA Women's EuroBasket tournaments (1983-1995) [/unordered]
Individual highlights	Played a record 252 senior games for Italy Scored a record 3,903 points for Italy Enshrined into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame (2013) [/unordered]

FIBA