What’s keeping Tamika Catchings busy in 2023? Cornhole — and much more

That’s what the several hundred fans were wondering at a recreational hall in Mesa, Arizona this past weekend. The Hall of Famer — and arguably one of the greatest basketball players of all-time — participated in the the fifth Johnsonville SuperHole IV preliminary event in the celebrity pro-am tournament series, paired with American Cornhole League pro Corey Gilbert.

Catchings and Gilbert competed against doubles teams that featured 400-meter sprinter Sanya Richards-Ross, swimmer Natalie Coughlin and volleyball player Kim Glass. Each is an Olympic medalist, and each was paired with a cornhole professional, such as Kimberli Glass, who teamed up with her name twin. Richards-Ross and her partner won the event and advanced to the Johnsonville SuperHole IV at Rock Hill, S.C., in August.

Not only were Catchings’ bean bags designed like basketballs, Gilbert even shaved the No. 24 on the side of his head. While that number might be synonymous with Catchings, she said it was also Gilbert’s number from past baseball teams.

“It’s funny how things come together,” Catchings joked about the coincidence. “It’s only the best number ever…Very cool!”

Catchings was following in the footsteps of her former teammate Dawn Staley, who competed last year. The Olympians were representing respective charities, and Catchings was playing for her foundation, Catch the Stars.

“It’s going well,” Catchings said of Catch the Stars. “We actually will be celebrating 20 years in 2024. We just gave out over $100,000 in scholarships on May 16, the Fever’s first home game. To date, we have given out $750,000. Our focus is boys and girls ages 7 to 18. We provide programming around fitness, literacy and youth empowerment. We have our back-to-school celebration that will be coming up next month in July, we have our Juneteenth clinic that will be coming up, and we are in the middle of a book club, in partnership with Tea’s Me Cafe.”

Tea’s Me Cafe is a coffee shop Catchings took over in February 2017. There are now three locations in Indianapolis, with one recently opening near Ivy Tech Community College in January. Catchings announced that she is exploring the possibility of bottling and distributing to other regions. In addition, she said she is working with the Martin Luther King Community Center of Indianapolis (another non-profit) to construct a 40,000-square foot gymnasium.

“It’s really a wellness center expansion we are looking at with them,” Catchings added. “It will be on 40th (Street) and Illinois (Street), so right around the corner in one of our ZIP codes in Indianapolis that is infamous with gun violence. My focus and my passion is kids, so to be able to give them a safe space, a place where they can go when there is rain or snow. They need a place.”

She noted that the gymnasium project is still in capital fundraising and is yet to break ground. Her goal is to have it completed by December 2024.

Watching Aliyah Boston from behind the microphone

Even before she stepped down from her role as Fever’s president of basketball operations and general manager last winter, Catchings has also taken on the role of television analyst these past few years. She calls SEC games on ESPN and the SEC Network.

“Most of my games are from the beginning of conference play,” she said. “Then the SEC Tournament, then the first and second round (of the NCAA Tournament). I love my schedule and being able to stay connected to the game in that way.”

Watching the players evolve from freshmen to seniors is something Catchings enjoys. One of those SEC players she monitored is Aliyah Boston at the University of South Carolina. Boston ended up right in Catchings’ backyard, as the No. 1 draft pick for Indiana.

“I wouldn’t say mentoring,” Catchings said of Boston. “For her, she knows if she needs anything, being in that position… Even when I came to the Fever, way back when, it was tough. We were not at the top of our level, playing, and we had to build it from the ground up. I feel like that is where the Fever is now. Building from the bottom to the top. She’s a great player, a great, stable player for us to have and build around.”

Catchings on upcoming USA Basketball events

One of the most-decorated players to ever wear a USA jersey, Catchings said it was a blessing just to be at the camp when she began with the national team.

Next month, Team USA will travel to Madrid, seeking its 10th gold medal at the FIBA Under-19 World Cup. Catchings happens to be on the first USA team to win the gold medal in that event. In 1997, her American team outlasted Australia with Lauren Jackson and Penny Taylor, 78-74, for the championship in Natal, Brazil. On that Under-19 team, Catchings would be introduced to Kristen Clement and Kyra Elzy, the summer before their undefeated 1997-98 season at Tennessee. With the Lady Vols, Catchings played against Joni Taylor of Alabama, who will be the Under-19 head coach this year.

“Joni is amazing,” Catchings said. “I have had the pleasure to watch her at Georgia and now Texas A&M. Even beyond the coaching, from how she is as a person, she is amazing. One of those people you want to gravitate around. She is so positive, she knows her stuff. You take the basketball stuff to the personal side and how she is able to articulate it, especially to this young group. You hear this generation is different, but she knows how to coach them and get the best out of her team.”

The 3×3 circuit did not circulate until Catchings’ advanced years with the Fever. While she never played, she said it’s great to have different opportunities, especially for players who are cut from the 5×5 teams.
Catchings also never played in an AmeriCup, which will be played the first week of July in Leon, Mexico. For the record, the same summer of 1997 as her Under-19 World Cup, Chamique Holdsclaw and Michelle Marciniak won the silver medal, behind host Brazil in the AmeriCup.

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Reuniting with the Olympians

The first time Catchings, Richards-Ross and Coughlin brushed paths was the opening ceremony at Athens Olympic Stadium in 2004. Glass joined the party four years later at the Bird’s Nest in Beijing. Now some of the most-respected personnel in their fields, the quartet was reunited by the rapidly-growing lawn sport of cornhole.

“You are in the same circles as far as being Olympians and having the opportunity to win medals,” Catchings said. “But you don’t always have the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations
to hang out and get to know them as people. The four of us, all from different walks, doing different things right now, but to have a moment to ask: ‘What’s going on in your world?'”

What’s next for No. 24

Clearly, Catchings is showing no signs of slowing down. Even if she isn’t winning Defensive Player of the Year awards routinely anymore, she has found meaningful avenues to expand her talents.

“For me, I am looking for more opportunities to impact,” Catchings said. “My faith is a huge part of who I am. I really believe God put me on this Earth to impact as many people as I can. I have been able to do some really amazing things because of a little round ball. It’s been able to take me around the world and introduce me to some new nationalities.”