Bruce Pearl wore an oversized Sumo wrestler suit and muscled his way to a takedown Friday night.

Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood dressed up like Michael Jackson and did her impression, dancing to "You Knock Me Off My Feet."

Candace Parker dunked and the crowd roared. Her boyfriend, Stanley Asumnu, won the slam-dunk contest, then proclaimed Candace the winner.

It was Big Orange Madness at Thompson-Boling Arena as the Tennessee men's and women's basketball teams gave a sneak preview of the 2005-06 season before 3,311 fans.

"It's not about the end result," said Pearl, starting his first season as UT coach. "It's about the process, the process of trying to build a program and build a following, and I think you've just got to have fun doing it."

Nobody had more fun than Parker, a 6-foot-4 redshirt freshman from Naperville, Ill. Parker, one of the most highly-recruited players in women's basketball history, sat out last season after having multiple knee surgeries.

"I mean, it's my first event," Parker said. "I've dreamed of this for so long, being on the sideline all last year being hurt and injured. I'm really excited to be out here on the floor, with 'Lady Vols' on my chest. It's exciting."

Parker put down two of her three dunk attempts in the contest. Her first one rattled around the rim and went through. He second one bounced out. Her third one was clean.

Parker is not a newcomer to dunking. She won the McDonald's All-America Slam-Dunk Contest against a star-studded field in 2004.

"I saw her in the (McDonald's) dunk contest when she won it," Asumnu said. "There ain't too many girls who can dunk. She has a whole lot of skills, but that's one skill that you can't teach. That's just God-given, blessed talent."

While Parker dunked, Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt was a bundle of nerves.

"My hands were sweating," Summitt said. "I told her, 'Don't do that. Coach can't take it. My heart can't take it.' "

Asumnu, a 6-5 senior guard, put on a dunking show. He didn't miss.

His first dunk was a tomahawk. He soared over Smokey on his second dunk. His one-hand windmill dunk on his third try was the clincher. Later, he gave Candace the victory.

"Actually, she's the true winner of this whole contest," Asumnu said. "I just wanted to come out here and do it for fun, for the fans, and give them something to look forward to this year."

Pearl showed his promotional flair, pumping the fans in a pre-scrimmage speech to the fans.

He said being a Sumo wrestler was a first in his career, and scoring a takedown against the UT student was a necessity.

"I felt bad for that student because I had a job to do," Pearl said. "I had to knock him out of the circle. I had no choice. I'm in the weight room with these guys and if I got whipped, I'd never live it down."

Two women's basketball junior recruits - 6-foot wing player Angie Bjorklund of Spokane, Wash., and 6-0 forward Maya Moore of Lawrenceville, Ga., attended the event as part of their unofficial visits.