Into the twilight, Candace Parker took flight.

Liftoff was captured earlier this month and was preserved on page 89 of last week's Time Magazine. She was soaring, basketball in hand, with arms and legs splayed in a Michael Jordan-like display. It was a spectacular sky's-the-limit moment.

Amazing what Parker can do - on a trampoline.

"It brought me back,'' the Tennessee women's basketball player said of the photo shoot. "My best friend in high school had a trampoline. We'd be out there all the time.''

Nice that she could frame the moment in such a manner - and altogether fitting for a redshirt freshman.

Sweet nostalgia, though, was not the reason why Parker was asked to rise above the UT soccer field.

With the first exhibition game set for next Sunday, the season is upon us and the court will be Parker's real launching pad. So said the Time article, which took an ambitious, futuristic perspective on Parker, predicting that she will change the sport.

Other media outlets - CNN, Sports Illustrated, ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine - also have stopped by to see Parker. So the reports from the new frontier are ongoing.

Remember, the 6-foot-4 forward is coming off two knee surgeries last year. She's yet to play a game at Tennessee and hasn't played competitively since a stint with USA Basketball in the summer of 2004.

Regardless, it's like the former two-time national high school player of the year never left. Or she's all the way back.

National Strength & Conditioning Magazine has named Parker its comeback athlete of the year. Those folks didn't visit but they did call.

History doesn't wait on this woman.

"The expectations, I don't think it's fair for her,'' UT senior guard Shanna Zolman said. "I think she's handling it very well.''

The dexterity will match any behind-the-back dribble Parker performs this season It will be worth as much to her growing legend as several dunks.

Her frame of reference is useful. Like bouncing on a tramp, the hype takes Parker back. She made a splash in the sports pages of the Chicago Tribune as a high school freshman.

She appears to be neither stunned nor dazzled by the flash.

Along these lines, Parker remembered being coached in AAU by her father, Larry. He also had a sharp eye for her future.

"Everything on the court was my fault,'' she said. "One girl turned the ball over and my dad was like 'Candace! You should've had the ball.' ''

Dad tried to explain his demands by posing a question to his daughter: "What would you do against yourself?''

The intent was to hold a mirror before Parker and hope she'd catch a glimpse of her potential.

"I think I've always had expectations and pressure since I was real young,'' Parker said. "It makes you work harder. You know people are watching.''

These experiences help explain why she was so diligent about her rehabilitation last season. She added 10 pounds of muscle to her frame. She's outgrown her nickname of "Olive Oyl," although it still fits for the sake of teasing.

Parker also packed on more patience and persistence during a difficult period that extended beyond the training room. Along with multiple surgeries, she said that she also was dealing with the divorce of her parents.

The same person who blithely considered moving to Tahiti believes that a year later she's better off for the hardships.

"I don't feel I was mentally tough enough last year," Parker said, "to do the things I feel I can do and we can accomplish as a team.''

Not to diminish her personal growth but the passing of time has done a lot to improve her outlook as well. The thought is worth remembering as she restores her play.

Preseason publicity notwithstanding, there is work to be done. For starters, there's the matter of reacquainting her surgically repaired left knee with the rigors of a season. So far, the joint is holding up, but she's still clearing scar tissue from her mind.

"Jumping for a rebound, that's how I tore my ACL; someone hit me,'' said Parker, referring to her original knee injury suffered before her senior season at Naperville (Ill.) Central High. "Different things like that. I have to get that out of my head.''

She also is reassembling her jump shot. The jumping action was forbidden during the months of rehab. Therefore, the overall biomechanics of the act have been somewhat balky. This undertaking has been particularly frustrating at times and has tempted her tendency to be harsh with herself.

"On curls and flares," said Parker, referring to some standard shot attempts. "It's almost like I hope it goes in.''

Lest she begin to sound like some jittery, broken-down rust bucket, let's be clear: She's still the other team's problem. Oh, the dilemmas she will present.

Her condor-like wingspan makes her a bird of prey whenever the ball is in play. Feel free to choose your own metaphor. A stunned Heather Mason, the Lady Vols' strength & conditioning coach, opted for flower rather than fowl when Parker elevated before her at practice to snatch a rebound.

"Like a Venus-fly trap,'' Mason exclaimed.

As for that jumper, her form is OK; she just can't call upon it consistently at this point.

As much as everyone is eagerly awaiting the air show, Parker's performance back here on Earth could be just as compelling, not to mention constructive. Her passing and court vision rate right along with her other abilities. They are evidence of not only a more complete player but also a team player.

"She's not constantly thinking that she has to take every shot, that she has to get every rebound,'' Zolman said. "She has a great perspective.''

Zolman has her own take on the individual star within the confines of the sport. It has evolved over her four years at Tennessee.

Zolman came here as a hotshot from Indiana, the state's career-scoring leader for girls' basketball. Before her freshman season, she proclaimed a desire to win four national championships and be a four-time All-American.

"Everyone has their dreams coming in here,'' Zolman said. "If you're a competitor, you want that. You want those accolades. Realistically, how many players do that?"

In Parker, Zolman beholds a player with, in Zolman's words, "this amazing God-given ability." At the same time, she sees someone with no collegiate-game experience and little sense for the whoosh of the roller-coaster ride she's climbing aboard.

"Basketball is so much bigger,'' Zolman said. "It's not about you and your individual accolades. It's all about team.

"If you want to go anywhere, it's all about team.''

Parker is going somewhere, and she can't wait to get started.

She's not alone. For everyone else, especially the breathless types, Zolman cautions: "She's a 19-year-old kid. She's not a God.''

Dan Fleser covers Tennessee women's athletics. He may be reached at 865-342-6288 or fleser@knews.com.