Candace Parker has been the Next Big Thing since eighth grade. That’s when she was featured in a Chicago Tribune spread about a youth sensation expected to take the prep scene by storm.
It was the same when she was ending her career at Naperville (Ill.) High with two state titles and two USA Today Player of the Year awards. The anticipation turned to her collegiate influence at Tennessee. After all, she was the girl who beat the boys in a high school dunk contest.
Here we go again for a player mentioned by many experts as perhaps the best ever among collegians.
“She’s one of the best (ever) at any level,” says her current coach, Tennessee’s Pat Summitt.
The fourth-year junior, after missing her freshman season because of knee problems, is about to wrap up her Tennessee career by seeking a second consecutive NCAA title. The No. 1 seed Lady Volunteers open Sunday against No. 16 Oral Roberts in West Lafayette, Ind.
Then it will be on to the WNBA, with the Los Angeles Sparks expected to make her the No. 1 pick in the April 9 draft, and the Olympics, where she will likely be a key player on the USA team that will be a gold medal contender in August.
Throw in graduation in May and time spent with her fiance, Shelden Williams of the Sacramento Kings, and that’s a hectic schedule. Parker handles it with aplomb.
“That’s kind of how I try to operate,” says Parker, who will be 22 next month. Last year, she was the Final Four MVP and won numerous Player of the Year awards. “I try to worry about the day in front of you. If you start to get too many things in your head, you’ll go crazy.”
That means Parker’s priority is the NCAA Tournament, which concludes with the Final Four on April 6 and 8 in Tampa.

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