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Parker named AP player of the Year; Summitt says best ever

By Dan Fleser (Contact)
Originally published 12:31 p.m., April 5, 2008
Updated 05:26 p.m., April 5, 2008

Candace Parker shoots over Texas A&M's Damitria Buchanon. The Tennessee Lady Vols defeated Texas A&M 53-45 in Oklahoma City, OK at the Ford Center Tuesday and advance to the Final Four in Tampa Florida where they will face LSU.

Saul Young

Candace Parker shoots over Texas A&M's Damitria Buchanon. The Tennessee Lady Vols defeated Texas A&M 53-45 in Oklahoma City, OK at the Ford Center Tuesday and advance to the Final Four in Tampa Florida where they will face LSU.

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TAMPA, Fla. — Candace Parker’s legacy was in fine shape Saturday.

The Tennessee women’s basketball star collected The Associated Press national player of the year award and was named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and Kodak All-Americans team as part of the festivities surrounding the Women’s Final Four.

“I went into the season thinking she’s one of the best ever,’’ UT coach Pat Summitt said, Now that we’re approaching the end of her career … Parker is the best.”

Parker received 40 votes from the 50-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25. Maya Moore of Connecticut was second with five votes. Sylvia Fowles of LSU and Candice Wiggins of Stanford had two each and Crystal Langhorne of Maryland one.

About the only honor the 6-foot-5 forward didn’t receive was the State Farm Wade Trophy, which went to Wiggins.

It’s Parker’s left shoulder, which was dislocated twice in Tuesday’s Midwest Regional final against Texas A&M, that remains in question as the Lady Vols prepare to face LSU at approximately 9:30 tonight in the national semifinals.

“We’ve been doing rehab around the clock,’’ Parker said. “My shoulder feels strong. It’s getting better every day. And I’m happy we play the late game on Sunday because it gives us more time to rehab.”

Parker showed off a good range of motion in the locker room before the team’s open workout at the St. Pete Times Forum. During practice, she was judicious in the use of her left arm.

The rehabilitation work with Jenny Moshak, the Lady Vols assistant athletic director for sports medicine, took place around Parker’s schedule, which included the State Farm ceremony and an autograph session in the morning and the AP presentation in the afternoon.

“Any 15 minute segment we get, we do stim(ulation), ice, shoulder exercises, strengthening, things like that,” Parker said.

Former Lady Vol Kara Lawson, working here as an ESPN analyst, said she suffered a separated left shoulder in 2005 while playing for the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs. She sat out a week and then returned for the first round of the playoffs.

“I did not feel normal,’’ she said. “I wasn’t terrible, but I wasn’t 100 percent.”

And Lawson wasn’t playing the same role with the Monarchs that Parker plays with UT. As Lawson noted, “She has to play great or they don’t win.”

LSU is wary of the circumstances and is bracing for the usual from Parker, who averaged 27 points in two games against the Lady Tigers this season.

“I don’t know how badly she’s hurt or what hurts her at this point,’’ Fowles said. “But I’m pretty sure she’s going to come out, she’s going to be fired up and be motivated and she’s going to play her game. We’re looking at it as if she’s 100 percent and she’s going to play well. That’s how we are taking things.”

The Lady Vols hope Fowles is right on the latter thought. But as UT assistant coach Dean Lockwood said, “It’s kind of wait and see.”

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.

       21 Comments

Posted by MillisaAnn on April 5, 2008 at 12:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Congrats to Candace Parker on winning Player Of The Year!!! Go Lady Vols!!!

Posted by adimatteo on April 5, 2008 at 12:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)

congrats to candace and all lady Vols, you deserve it, its been a great ride, hopefully well get afew more like you in the future...

Posted by LadyVolFanForever on April 5, 2008 at 1:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Very well deserved !!! Congrats Candace !!!

Posted by volfan on April 5, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Congrats to Candace and the supporting cast of players, coaches, trainers, etc. POY...wow!...But not the SEC player of the year...sorta makes one wonder just how intelligent or observant the SEC writers are. Candace plays the entire court for the full minutes she in on the hardwood. Let's not get complacent, and forget that there is still more games to be played before they can hang another NC banner in TBA. Knuckle down Lady Vols and give your all for the team and earn the right to be called Nat'l Champs! Last time I looked, it still takes 5 dedicated players on the court to make a team. One for all, all for one. Go Lady Vols!

Posted by KHVOLFAN on April 5, 2008 at 1:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Great job Candace! I will miss seeing you play for the Lady Vols. Great job team on a great season and now lets take care of our work at hand and bring home a championship title. GO VOLS!

Posted by johnlg00 on April 5, 2008 at 1:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Well-deserved honor for possibly the greatest player in women's basketball history! At the same time, I can understand why Sylvia Fowles might be the SEC POY over Candace. Candace was recognized for the body of her season's work. Many of the more impressive examples of that were against teams outside the SEC, and were watched closely by people all around the country. In the conference season, LSU won the title, beating the Lady Vols (badly, on their home court) in the process. LSU probably would not have done that without Fowles. So, on the premise that the POY should be the best player on the best team, Fowles gets the nod over Candace. Therefore, IMHO, it is not so much that voters for the SEC award were so much dumber than voters for the national award as it is that different criteria were used, by people who were concentrating on the SEC season only.

Posted by janchattn on April 5, 2008 at 2:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Excellent analysis, johnlg00.

Congratulations again to Candace for yet another well-deserved award, we are SO proud of you!!

Go Lady Vols, two more games and we're there!!!

Posted by iowavol on April 5, 2008 at 2:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Way to go Candy - you deserve it. Now go get that NC on your way to graduation and the WNBA.

Posted by thegoat0248 on April 5, 2008 at 4:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Congrats Candace but she should have won the Wade award too!!!

Posted by GreerVol22 on April 5, 2008 at 5:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)

What exactly did Geno do to deserve his award?

Posted by ICorangeP on April 5, 2008 at 5:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

CP3 what a great time in your life. As well as making it a great time in my long life. As we say in Georgia yous did good!
My hope it will be "GREAT IN '08 WITH NUMBER 8".
GO LADY LOLS

Posted by IPOrange on April 5, 2008 at 6:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

johnlg00 -

Fowles and LSU did defeat the Lady Vols during the regular season, but the Lady Vols beat LSU during the SEC tournament and won the SEC tournament championship. That accomplishment is a strong argument for why Parker, and not Fowles, should have been named SEC POY as well. Just a thought.....

Posted by yemmusdarb on April 5, 2008 at 9:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Greervol22: I hate Geno and UCONN too, but what you said is ignorant. His team lost only 1 game and are in the Final Four. Tennessee has lost 2 games (and really a 3rd) with one being a blowout loss at home to LSU. I see no argument with Geno being Coach of the Year and neither did Pat Summit, she voted for him too.

That being said, I hope Stanford beats them by 30 and we meet them in the National Championship game and win by 20.

Posted by johnlg00 on April 6, 2008 at 11:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

IPOrange, I'm not saying you're wrong, I was just offering a possible explanation. Surely you know that the women's basketball establishment has a strong love/hate relationship with the Lady Vols. On the one hand, they have to acknowledge that the Lady Vols are largely responsible for growing the women's game to its present stature. On the other, it just KILLS lots of those people that we just KEEP on winning at a legendary rate, year in and year out, against the best opposition the rest of the country can muster. GO LADY VOLS!!! BRING HOME THE EIGHTH!!!

Posted by etsuvol99 on April 6, 2008 at 4:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I'd put Holdsclaw slightly ahead of Parker in terms of being a basketball player. I phrase it that way because I think Parker is the best athlete, but it just seemed like Chamique had the better shooting touch. Maybe she had a better supporting cast, though.

Posted by pdhuff on April 6, 2008 at 6:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ladies, the stage is yours. Bring it and move on.

You can finish 4th- 3rd- 2nd- 1st. Its up to you. Good luck.

Posted by pdhuff on April 6, 2008 at 9:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Hope we don't get Stanfordized vs LSU.

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