Whalen Inducted Into University Of Minnesota’s “M” Club Hall Of Fame

Mitchell Hansen
Web Editorial Associate
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Lindsay Whalen added to her already impressive basketball resume on Thursday night at the University of Minnesota.

Whalen, who played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 2000 to 2004, was one of nine members inducted in the university’s “M” Club Hall of Fame.

The “M” Club oversees the athletics department Hall of Fame as the school’s varsity alumni club. The Club has long been one of the oldest and largest varsity alumni organizations in the country, with a history dating back more than a century. With the long and successful history of Gopher Athletics, the Hall of Fame has plenty of student-athletes, coaches and administrators to honor. The Hall of Fame includes men and women from all of those categories, stretching back to the earliest days of Gopher Athletics in the 1880s.

During her four years at the University of Minnesota, Whalen finished her collegiate career as one of the all-time greats in Gophers women’s basketball history. She held the program’s career records for career points, scoring average and free throws made for 12 years and still ranks second all-time in all three. She is also second in career assists and in the top 10 in at least eight other statistical categories.

If there’s a statistical list of any kind, Whalne is likely to be near the top of it.

Whalen led the Gophers to their first-ever NCAA Tournament Final Four appearance in 2004. By the end of her career, she had tallied 80 wins in four years and led Minnesota to three straight 20-plus win seasons for the first time ever. She is also the program’s only three-time All-American.

Whalen’s career at Minnesota was a nice preview for what would come in her professional and international careers. She became the WNBA’s winningest player in league history in 2017, while leading the Minnesota Lynx to their fourth WNBA title in team history. Whalen has also won two Olympic gold medals and two World Championship golds playing for Team USA.

In her home state of Minnesota, Whalen has and continues to cement herself as one of the top basketball players to play the game.

And everyone was once again reminded of that on Thursday night at the University of Minnesota, when Whalen was inducted into the “M” Club Hall Of Fame.