Description: There is no mistaking that this building has something to do with basketball. On the roof is the world’s largest basketball. This basketball is 30 feet wide, weighs 20,000 pounds, and has 96,000-plus pebbles.
Before entering the Hall of Fame exhibits, you are shown a movie that illustrates the history of women’s basketball. Imagine playing basketball in skirts, as they did 100 years ago. The first exhibit after you leave the theater contains more information on the first 100 years of women’s basketball, from the first tip-off to the NCAA championship.
After walking past a version of an early locker room that looked more like a storage closet, you enter an area that resembles a modern locker room. It is very lifelike, from the lockers containing uniforms and mementos from some of the nation’s best players and teams to the benches with player statues. The most interesting thing about this area is a television screen that plays real coaches giving locker-room lectures.
In the next area I do not remember what was on the ground because I was paying to much attention to the jerseys hanging from the ceiling. The jerseys represent last season’s high-school and collegiate All-Americans and WNBA All-Stars. Two of the jerseys were of interest to me. One was Polkey’s U of A jersey and the other was Sybil Dosty’s Salpointe jersey, the U of A jersey being of interest to me because I go to the school and have been watching the team for about 7 years. The Salpointe jersey was of interest because it was one of the high schools I went to and Dosty was there at the same time.
From here you can go to the lower level, where you can test your shooting, dribbling, and passing skills. There are three baskets, one of which resembles what basketball hoops looked like in the early days of women’s basketball. It was fun to try the different drills and the early hoop.
Returning to the upstairs’ exhibits, you will come upon statues that form a huddle with room for you to join. In the huddle you can hear what coaches said during timeouts at actual games.
The last exhibit is the actual Hall of Fame containing the names of all the inductees. Here you can learn about their lives and careers. Two of the inductees are Pat Summit and Tara VanDerveer.
Hours are 10am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and 1pm to 6pm on Sunday,
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