CANDACE PARKER SLAM DUNKS FOR EQUALITY By: Sarah Vandermolen Editor-in-Chief After graduating from the University of Tennessee in 2008, Candace Parker was the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft. She was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks and from then on, she would go on to change the basketball world. While growing up in Naperville, Illinois, Candace learned from her brothers, Marcus and Anthony Parker, the love of basketball. At the ripe age of 15-years-old, “Candance became a national sensation at Naperville Central High School, leading her team to back-to-back state championships in 2003 and 2004,” according to candaceparker.com. Parker would go on to win several more championships and achieve some amazing accomplishments, such as: Naismith and Gatorade Prep Player of the Year, the slam dunk contest at the 2004 McDonald’s All American Game, and “back-to back Class AA state titles,” all before graduating from high school, according to www.candaceparker.com. In college, Parker's reign didn’t even waver. According to www. candaceparker.com, “She became the first woman to dunk in an NCAA game, and the first woman to dunk twice in a single NCAA game.” In her very first season in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), she was named SEC Rookie of the Year. “She went on to win back-to-back NCAA championships with the Lady Vols in 2007 and 2008, leading the
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team both in scoring and rebounds her final season,” according to www.candaceparker.com. Throughout her collegiate career, she was named: Collegiate Female John R. Wooden Player of the Year (2007 and 2008), State Farm Player of the Year, Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Year, and Kodak AllAmerican. Parker was also a member of Team USA. According to her biography on www.candaceparker.com, “Candace was a member of the USA Women’s U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA America Championship.” In 2006, Parker also led Team USA to win a bronze medal at the World Championships in Brazil, as well as leading the team to a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2011 London Olympics. Candace’s story only gets greater and greater, with her success only skyrocketing once she hit the big leagues. After being selected by the Los Angeles Sparks, she was “named to the AllWNBA First Team and All Rookie Team” and “Became the first player to earn WNBA MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season,” according to www.wnba.com. After giving birth to her daughter in 2009 and suffering from several injuries in 2010 and 2011,
