A WNBA champion, one of the most popular Washington football players of his generation and the team that gave Maryland basketball its greatest moment are headed to the D.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
Former Washington Mystics star Elena Delle Donne, longtime Washington linebacker London Fletcher and Maryland’s 2001-02 men’s basketball national championship team are among those being honored in the Hall’s Class of 2026, according to a news release.
Delle Donne helped deliver the Mystics their first WNBA championship in 2019, the same season she won her second league MVP award. She spent six seasons in Washington and became one of the defining players in franchise history.
Fletcher spent the final seven seasons of his 16-year NFL career in D.C., where the linebacker became a defensive fixture and earned four straight Pro Bowl selections. The Super Bowl champion has since returned to the organization as an analyst for the Commanders’ radio broadcasts.
And nearly 25 years after cutting down the nets, Maryland’s 2001-02 men’s basketball team is being honored as the Hall of Fame’s Team of Distinction.
Led by coach Gary Williams and stars including Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter and Steve Blake, the Terps went 32-4 and defeated Indiana 64-52 to win the 2002 NCAA championship — the first and only men’s basketball national title in Maryland history.
Other inductees include Tommy Amaker, a Fairfax native who’s coached college basketball for 20 years; Elana Meyers Taylor, an Olympian who played legendary softball at George Washington University; and Al Thomas, a Maryland high school football coach who died in 2016 after a career featuring four undefeated seasons, according to the news release.
The D.C. Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held Aug. 30 at Nationals Park.
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