Delaware Native Elena Delle Donne Joins Basketball Elites with 2026 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Selection

Elena Delle Donne playing for the Washington Mystics.

Former Ursuline Raider and University of Delaware Blue Hen, Elena Delle Donne, will be a part of the 2026 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class that includes other NBA and WNBA greats.

Elena Delle Donne was one of four reported members of the 2026 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction class, according to reports from ESPN’s Shams Charania. 

Delle Donne will be the second Delaware native to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining Charles “Tarzan” Cooper as the only two players born in Delaware to receive the honor. Walter Davis — a 2024 inductee — played a season of high school basketball at Sanford High School in 1973, but spent most of his early career in North Carolina where he was born.

Delle Donne was born in Wilmington and attended Ursuline Academy. There Delle Donne started on the varsity team as an eighth grader and led the Raiders to five consecutive state championship games. Ursuline won four of them. Delle Donne finished her high school career with over 2,000 points and three Delaware Gatorade Player of the Year awards. 

Delle Donne was set to join the UConn Huskies and head coach Geno Auriemma, but decided to return to Delaware and attend the University of Delaware. Delle Donne spent her first year as a Blue Hen on the volleyball team, but returned to the court for the 2009-2010 season.

Delle Donne played four seasons for the Blue Hens leading the team to two wins in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament in her first season. The Blue Hens won the CAA tournament in her third season and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament. The team won their first round matchup, but fell to Kansas in the next round. The Blue Hens advanced to the Sweet 16 in Delle Donne’s final year, but her 33-point performance wasn’t enough to defeat Kentucky and advance further.

Delle Donne holds a list of accolades from her time with the Blue Hens. She is the single game scoring leader with her 54-point performance against James Madison in 2010 and is the all-time leader in points scored with 3,039 throughout her career. She is also the only Blue Hen to be drafted in the first round of the WNBA draft.

Delle Donne was selected by the Chicago Sky with the second pick of the first round in 2013. Delle Donne played her first four professional seasons with the Sky, winning the Rookie of the Year award in her first season. She won her first MVP in 2015 averaging 23.4 points per game and a little over eight rebounds a game. Delle Donne was traded to the Washington Mystics in 2017.

Delle Donne finished her WNBA career as a member of the Mystics. In her six seasons with the Mystics, Delle Donne averaged close to 19 points per game and was named an All-Star four times. Delle Donne won her second league MVP in 2019 and led the Mystics to their first WNBA championship that same year. Delle Donne averaged a shade under 17 points per game during that playoff run and scored 21 in the Mystic’s championship clinching win over the Connecticut Sun.

Delle Donne retired from the WNBA in 2025.

The formal announcement of the 2026 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class will occur on April 4, but according to the Charania report, Delle Donne will be joined by WNBA great Candace Parker, NBA champion coach Doc Rivers and former NBA Rookie of the Year Amar’e Stoudemire. 

The enshrinement ceremony is scheduled for the weekend of August 14, 2026.