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Let the endorsements begin.

Gatorade and adidas announced Tuesday that it has signed University of Tennessee women's basketball player Candace Parker to endorsement deals. It's the first endorsement contracts for Parker, who was drafted No. 1 by the Los Angeles Sparks in the recent WNBA draft.

Both companies declined to disclose the value of the deals. Parker’s agent was not immediately available.

“It’s only fitting for me to announce Gatorade as my first partner as I begin my professional basketball career because they have been part of my life since the day I first picked up a basketball,” said Parker in a release from Gatorade. “It still means a lot to me that in high school I was honored as a two-time Gatorade High School Basketball Player of the Year and as a college athlete at the University of Tennessee, Gatorade was always on the sidelines."

Parker played three seasons at Tennessee and helped win two national championships. She is headed to Beijing as part of the 2008 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team.

Parker is a two-time Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year (2003 and 2004) and the 2004 Gatorade High School Female Athlete of the Year, which honors the best male and female athlete across multiple high school sports.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.