The "Largest Basketball in the World" is located at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville (population 190,740), Tennessee. The ball is 30-feet tall and weighs 10 tons.
Entrance to the building is on the second level into a rotunda that contains a two-story sculpture of women playing basketball. Displayed on the wall are the words to The Dream, which was a song written and performed at the 1999 dedication of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. On the self-guided tour a placard stated that "Our official song celebrates the drama, drive, and heart of the women who play the game."
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After watching the 25-minute video Hoopful of Hope about women playing basketball from the past to the present, the self-guided tour goes past exhibits of how the game of women's basketball was started.
Senda Berenson pioneered women's basketball when she was the first physical education director at the all-women's Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. In 1892, a month after men's basketball was invented, she developed and wrote the first basketball guide for women.
A display of historic basketballs revealed that everything about basketballs has changed over the years, except the shape of the ball.
At first, women's basketball locker room were any unused space that could be found in a building. An example of an early women's basketball locker room was on display, which was a storage area under a flight of stairs. Other women's locker rooms were reported to have been repurposed storage closets or rooms in basements.
Over the years, basketball uniforms worn by women have changed substantially. On display were uniforms worn by various university players at college games, national championships, international games, and Olympic events. Some materials used in the uniforms were on display for visitors to touch.
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In the Huddle allowed visitors to listen to what coaches tell players while they are in a huddle.
Autographed basketballs, trophies, and other awards were also on display.
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The "All-American Red Heads" was a touring women's basketball team that was popular from 1936 to 1986. They were the first professional women's basketball team that demonstrated their playing skills and showmanship on courts around the United States, which was similar to the Harlem Globetrotters.
The team was started by "Ole" Olson and the team's name came from Olson's wife that owned a number of beauty salons. The team was unique for the time because they wore bright uniforms, all of the players had red hair, and they traveled around the country in a stretched limo. Although all of the players were "red heads," only their hairdresser knew for sure.
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Pat Summitt was coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team from 1974 to 2012 and is considered one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time. Her teams had 1,098 wins, which was the most in college basketball history at the time of her retirement. She won a silver medal as a player in the 1976 Olympic games and then in 1984 she was head coach for the U.S. women's basketball team that won the gold metal. She was the first Olympian to win a basketball medal as a player and then as the coach of a medal-winning team.
A number of her personal items were on display, along with many of her famous quotes, and quotes from other coaches.
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Tara VanDerveer was the Stanford Cardinals coach from 1986-2024 and won three NCAA Women's Division 1 Basketball Championships: 1990, 1992, and 2021. She also coached the women's national team that won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games.
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Although most of the museum displays featured women basketball players, one section was dedicated to game officials.
In the downstairs area there were a series of hands-on activities and four different courts that featured basketball equipment from four different time periods. The captain of the 1940s team was there poising for pictures.
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