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CANDACE PARKER NAMED ESPN THE MAGAZINE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN
Feb. 27, 2007
KNOXVILLE, TENN. - Tennessee Lady Vol basketball player Candace Parker has been named to ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-America Second Team, the publication announced Tuesday. It is the first such award for the sophomore standout, who is the youngest member of the first or second teams. "My parents always instilled in me the importance of education," Parker said. "Growing up, if I wasn't playing basketball, I was studying. I am proud to be honored among some of the nation's best student-athletes." A Naperville, Ill., native, Parker boasts a 3.29 grade point average as she pursues a degree in sport management at the University of Tennessee. In her second year on the hardwood, she has amassed 1,200 career points, 572 rebounds, 167 blocks and has started all 64 games in which she has played. In UT annals, she ranks in the top 10 in 13 different categories a combined 20 times. This season, the 6-foot-4 sophomore is a midseason finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Awards, the SEC Player of the Year, an All-SEC first-team selection, the five-time recipient of SEC Player of the Week honors and a Kodak All-America candidate. She boasts 17 double-doubles on the season, the most ever by a Lady Vol sophomore. During the month of February, Parker guided her team to an 8-0 record and the program's first regular season SEC title since 2004. She averaged 24.1 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks during the eight-game span.
Parker is the seventh Lady Vol to garner Academic All-America accolades. She joins Peggy Evans (third team 1992), Tanya Haave (third team 1983, first team 1984), Lea Henry (third team 1983), Kara Lawson (first team 2003), Jill Rankin (first team 1980) and Shanna Zolman (first team 2006) as the UT recipients of the most prestigious national academic award given to collegiate student-athletes.
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