Basketball HOF enshrines Auburn's Bolton, 1996 Olympic team: 'We were on a mission'

AUBURN, Ala. – Thirty years after a golden journey to Olympic greatness, Auburn legend Ruthie Bolton reunites this weekend with her teammates on the 1996 USA women’s team for their enshrinement into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

“Really humbling,” Bolton said. “I thought about the journey, and this moment you wait for, it’s finally here. I’m beyond excited about the opportunity to see my teammates and reminisce. To share space again with these amazing ladies, it’s an honor.”

Bolton and her 1996 Olympic teammates will have much to discuss. Three decades ago, they capped a year of globetrotting by going 8-0 in the Atlanta Games, winning each game by an average of more than 30 points. 

Leading up to the Olympics, Team USA went 52-0 while traveling more than 100,000 miles.

“Traveling overseas for 17 hours, getting off the plane and going straight to the gym,” recalled Bolton, who like her teammates signed a $50,000 contract with USA Basketball. “It was worth it. The game has evolved, it’s grown.

“We were on a mission. We were laser focused. We had to go get gold, there was no such thing as silver and bronze. We had to win gold so we stayed locked in. No matter how hard it got, nothing was going to keep me from pressing on. I was so determined to see this thing through to the end. When the going got tough, we got tougher.”

On a team that included future Hall of Famers Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Dawn Staley, Teresa Edwards, Rebecca Lobo and Katrina McClain, Bolton provided leadership. 

“Keeping the team morale up,” said Bolton, drawing on her military experience as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve. “We’ve got to do something that’s never been done before. There’s a lot on our shoulders. I tried to keep us cohesive.”

The 1996 Olympic team’s dominance attracted attention, setting the stage for the launch of the WNBA. Bolton was one of the WNBA’s inaugural stars, the only player in Sacramento Monarchs history to have her jersey number retired. 

“Look at what we did and how we did it,” Bolton said. “I’m thankful to have been one of the legacy players. We passed the torch onto this next generation and they’re doing a heck of a job with it.”

The 16th of 20 children, Bolton traces her toughness to the teaching of her father, Rev. Linwood Bolton, in Lucedale, Mississippi. 

“My father encouraged me not to quit,” she said. “He encouraged me to press on and that there was purpose beyond basketball. I’m thankful I had someone to remind me the value of persevering.”

A two-time author, Bolton’s first book, “The Ride of a Lifetime,” recounts her journey to Auburn on a bus in 1985, the start of a four-year career that saw Ruthie help Auburn achieve a record of 199-13, three SEC championships and NCAA runner-up finishes in 1988 and 1989. 

“I had to dig deep,” said Bolton a motivational speaker whose Instagram account, @mightyruthie, matches the title of her ESPN Films documentary. “When Auburn challenged me and when Coach Ciampi told me I may not play until my junior or senior year, it forced me to dig deep because I really wanted it. I got on that bus and I risked it. 

“There’s a saying when you know your why, you know your way. When you lose your why, you lose your way. I knew I wanted to play basketball. I was obsessed with it. I relinquished everything I had. I exhausted myself. This is it. There’s no Plan B. 

“I’m thankful for Auburn and Coach Ciampi challenging me because he made me dig deep and made me the kind of person I am today. Auburn was a huge factor in my journey to the Olympics and the Hall of Fame.”

The Enshrinement Ceremony takes place Saturday night in Springfield, Massachusetts. 

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer