Coordinates	52.65°0′0″N5.07°0′0″N
name	Pat Head Summitt
birth date	June 14, 1952
birth place	Clarksville, TN
sport	Women's college basketball
current team	University of Tennessee
current title	Head coach
overall record	1071–199 (84.33%)
awards	8 Time SEC Coach of the Year ''(1993,1995,1998,2001,2003,2004,2007,2011)''7 Time NCAA Coach of the Year ''(1983,1987,1989,1994,1995,1998,2004)''Naismith Coach of the 20th Century
championships	8 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championships ''(1987,1989,1991,1996,1997,1998,2007,2008)''16-time SEC Champions ''(1980, 1985, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011)''15-time SEC Tournament Champions''(1980, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011)''
coach	Head Coach
coach years	1974-current
coach teams	Tennessee
baskhof year	2000 }}

}}

Patricia "Pat" Head Summitt (born on June 14, 1952 in Clarksville, Tennessee) is an American women's college basketball coach. She is currently the head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history of either a men's or women's team in any division. She has been coaching since 1974, all with the Lady Vols, winning eight NCAA national championships, second only to the record 10 titles won by UCLA men's coach John Wooden. Summitt is the only coach in NCAA history, and one of three college coaches overall, with 1,000 victories. She was named the Naismith Basketball Coach of the Century in April 2000. In 2009, the Sporting News placed her number 11 on its list of the 50 Greatest Coaches of All Time in all sports; she was the only woman on the list. In 36 years as a coach, she has never had a losing season.

Summitt has written two books: ''Reach for the Summitt'', which is part a motivational book and part biography, and ''Raise the Roof'' about the Lady Vols' 1997–1998 undefeated and NCAA-championship winning season.

Early life and family

Summitt was born Patricia Sue Head in Clarksville, Tennessee. She has four siblings: older brothers Tommy, Charles and Kenneth, and a younger sister, Linda. She married R. B. Summitt in 1980; the two filed for divorce in 2007. They have one son, Ross Tyler Summitt (b. 1990), a walk-on for the Tennessee men's basketball team who hopes to coach basketball.

When Summitt was in high school, her family moved to nearby Henrietta, so she could play basketball in Cheatham County because Clarksville did not have a girls team. From there, Summitt went to University of Tennessee at Martin where she was a member of Chi Omega and won All-American honors, playing for UT–Martin's first women's basketball coach, Nadine Gearin. In 1970, with the passage of Title IX still two years away, there were no athletic scholarships for women. Each of Summitt's brothers had gotten an athletic scholarship, but her parents had to pay her way to college. She later co-captained the first United States women's national basketball team as a player at the inaugural women's tournament at the 1976 Summer Olympics, winning the silver medal. Eight years later in 1984, she coached the U.S. women's team to an Olympic gold medal, becoming the first U.S. Olympian to win basketball medals as a player and a coach.

Coaching career

1970s

Just before the 1974–75 season, with women's college basketball still in its infancy and not yet an NCAA-sanctioned sport, 22-year-old Summitt became a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee, and was named head coach of the Lady Vols after the previous coach suddenly quit. Summitt earned $250 monthly and washed the players' uniforms - uniforms purchased the previous year with proceeds from a donut sale. Summitt recalled that era of women's basketball during a February 2009 interview with Time Magazine. "I had to drive the van when I first started coaching," Summitt said. "One time, for a road game, we actually slept in the other team's gym the night before. We had mats, we had our little sleeping bags. When I was a player at the University of Tennessee-Martin, we played at Tennessee Tech for three straight games, and we didn't wash our uniforms. We only had one set. We played because we loved the game. We didn't think anything about it."

During Summitt's first year as head coach, four of her players were only a year younger than she was and all were from Tennessee high schools, which until the early-1970s employed an antiquated six-person game where offensive and defensive players never crossed mid-court. She coached her first game for Tennessee on December 7, 1974 against Mercer University in Macon, Georgia; the Lady Vols lost 84-83. Her first win came almost a month later when the Lady Vols defeated Middle Tennessee State, 69-32 on January 10, 1975. The Lady Vols won the Tennessee College Women’s Sports Federation (TCWSF) Eastern District Championship for the third straight year. However, the team finished 4th overall in the TCWSF (they had been second the previous two years), and were not invited to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) tournament.

In her second season, Summitt coached the Lady Vols to a 16-11 record while earning her 1976 masters degree in physical education and training as the co-captain of the 1976 U.S. Women's Olympic basketball team that won a silver medal in Montreal. Starting with the 1976-77 season, Summitt directed two 20-win teams, winning back-to-back AIAW Region II championships. The Lady Vols defeated 3-time AIAW champion Delta State by 20 points in 1976, and earned Tennessee its first number one ranking. 1978 saw the Lady Vols participate in their first AIAW Final Four, where they finished third. Summitt also recorded her 100th win during this season, a 79–66 victory over NC State. Tennessee finished up the 70s by winning the first-ever SEC tournament, and returning to the AIAW Final Four, where they finished runner-up to Old Dominion, 68–53.

1980s

During the 1980-81 season, the Lady Vols went 25-6, and avenged their championship game loss to Old Dominion by defeating them three times. The team made it to the AIAW Final Four for the third straight year; finished runner-up for the second consecutive year, losing to Louisiana Tech, 79-59.

The 1981-82 season featured the first ever NCAA Women's basketball tournament. The Lady Vols were one of 32 teams invited and named a 2 seed in their region. In the region championship, the Lady Vols upset top-seeded USC 91-90 in overtime to advance to the Final Four. They lost their Final Four match-up with Louisiana Tech, which went on to win the tournament.

The next season, the Lady Vols won the regular season SEC title but fell in the SEC tournament to Georgia. Tennessee was invited to the now-36 team NCAA tournament and awarded its first-ever 1 seed. Tennessee made it to the regional championship, but fell to Georgia again, 67-63. Summitt won her 200th game on December 3, a 69-56 victory over St. John's during the Coca-Cola Classic in Detroit.

The 1983-84 season saw Tennessee start out 6-4. However, Summitt rallied her team and finished 22-10, for her eighth straight 20-win season, a streak that still continues. Tennessee not only made it to the NCAA Final Four for the second time in the first three tournaments, but also made it to the title game. However, Tennessee lost by 11 to USC which also had won the title the previous year. Pat Summitt earned Coach of the Year honors. This season was followed up by another 20-win year in which Tennessee earned both the regular season SEC title (despite only going 4-4) and the tournament title. However, the Lady Vols fell in the NCAA Tournament to Ole Miss during the round of 16. The next season was a similar story - The Lady Vols had a good regular season, played a great tournament (reaching the Final Four for the second time in three years), but fell before winning the title.

In 1986-87, Tennessee broke through and defeated perennial power Louisiana Tech 67-44 to win the Lady Vols first national title. Tennessee's Tonya Edwards was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four. During the regular season, Summitt also earned her 300th win, an 87-66 victory over North Carolina. The next year in 1987-88, the Lady Vols were positioned to repeat as Tennessee made it to the Final Four yet again. However, Louisiana Tech avenged the previous year's championship game loss with a 9-point victory and went on to win the title.

In 1988-89, the Lady Vols made it to the Final Four for the fourth straight year. After dispatching Maryland by 12, Tennessee faced SEC rival Auburn for the national title. Auburn had lost by two to Louisiana Tech in the NCAA title game the previous year and had suffered its only loss in the SEC Championship game by 15 points to Tennessee. The championship game was similar as Tennessee took home its second title in three years with a 76–60 victory. Record-wise, it was Tennessee's best season yet, as theLady Vols won 35 games while losing only a pair of regular season contests to Auburn and Texas. The Lady Vols won every NCAA tournament game by at least 12 points.

In 1989-90, the Lady Vols started off the season well, winning the SEC title. However, the team fell by 1 point to Auburn in the SEC Championship Game and lost in overtime to Virginia in the regional finals, one game shy of making a trip to the Final Four, which that year was held in Knoxville. Summitt accomplished another milestone that season with her 400th win, a 70-69 victory over South Carolina on January 25.

1990s

Tennessee failed to win the SEC regular season or the tournament championship in 1990-91, but after a close win in the NCAA regional semifinals against Western Kentucky, the Lady Vols eliminated Auburn for the second time in three years. In the national semifinals, the Lady Vols beat Stanford, 68-60, to earn the chance to avenge the previous year's tournament loss against Virginia. Just as the previous year's game had gone into overtime, so did this one. Tennessee escaped with a 70-67 win and its third national title in five years. The next season in 1991-92, the Lady Vols did not make it to the regional championship, falling 75-70 to the same Western Kentucky team they had beaten in that round the previous year. In 1992-93, Tennessee defeated the defending champions Stanford twice and swept the SEC season for the first time. However, the Lady Vols were unable to win the SEC tournament title and fell 72-56 in the NCAA tournament to Iowa in the regional finals.

Early in the 1993-94 season, Summitt grabbed her 500th win, an 80-45 win over Ohio State on November 21. Tennessee went on to win the regular season and tournament SEC titles before falling 71-68 to Louisiana Tech in the regional semifinals. The next season marked Tennessee's return to the Final Four. Tennessee went undefeated in the SEC regular season for the third straight year, but failed to win the tournament title. The top-seeded Lady Vols breezed their way to their fifth national title game, with no other tournament game being closer than 21 points. However, in the national championship game, the Lady Vols fell 70-64 to the undefeated UConn Huskies, coached by her rival, Geno Auriemma, in the first of seven championships for UConn. During the off-season, Pat Summitt recruited high school stand-out Chamique Holdsclaw.

In 1995-96, with freshman Holdsclaw and senior Michelle Marciniak, the Lady Vols won the SEC tournament and made a second straight Final Four trip. In the semi-finals, the Lady Vols avenged the previous year's tournament loss to UConn by ousting Auriemma and the Huskies with a hard-fought 5-point win in overtime. The championship game was not that close as Tennessee easily won their fourth title with an 83-65 win over Georgia.

The 1996-97 Lady Vols posted one of the worst records ever for a Summitt-coached team. In addition to losses to powerhouses such as Louisiana Tech (twice), Stanford, Old Dominion, and Connecticut, Tennessee fell to teams such as Florida, against whom they had been previously undefeated. After their tenth loss of the season, in the SEC semi-finals to Auburn, the team pulled together in time for the NCAA Tournament. After avenging a regular-season loss to undefeated Connecticut, Tennessee continued on their way to the championship game, where they avenged another loss, defeating Old Dominion by 9 for their second straight national title. Summitt also earned her 600th win during the season, a 15- point victory over Marquette on November 23, 1996.

In many aspects, the 1997–98 team was Summitt's best. With the top-ranked recruiting class as well as Chamique Holdsclaw, the Lady Vols ran the table to a 39-0 season while playing one of the top-ranked schedules in the country. Only three teams came within 10 points of beating the team, and the Lady Vols won a 93–75 victory over Louisiana Tech for their third straight national championship.

Holdsclaw (who by then had won national championships every season she was with the Vols) had predicted the 1998–99 team would be the greatest ever. However, Tennessee didn't claim another national title or make it to the Final Four. Injuries to several players decimated the team and the Lady Vols ultimately fell to Duke in the regional finals. A landmark was set during this season however, as Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings, and Semeka Randall became the first trio from one team to be named Kodak All-Americans.

The Lady Vols ended the decade with their third straight 30-win season, third straight SEC title, and third straight SEC Tournament title. Additionally, the Lady Vols defeated UConn in the regular season, 72-71, in what would be the Huskies only loss of the year. In the NCAA tournament, Tennessee breezed its way to the title game, winning all five games by at least 10 points. However, in the championship game the Lady Vols were beaten soundly by the Huskies, 71–52. This marked the fourth time in six years that Tennessee or UConn had eliminated the other from the tournament. UConn's two wins in that period came in championship games, adding more intensity to the Summit-Auriemma rivalry. During the season, Summitt earned her 700th win, 85-62 at Wisconsin.

At the 2000 ESPY awards, the Lady Vols basketball team was named co-team of the decade, along with the Florida State Seminoles football team. Additionally, Pat Summitt was named the Naismith Coach of the Century and Chamique Holdsclaw earned recognition as player of the century.

2000s

In the 2000–01 season, the Lady Vols claimed another SEC title, winning all 14 SEC games. Additionally, they split the season series with the UConn Huskies and headed into the SEC tournament with a 28–1 record. However, the Lady Vols were upset by Vanderbilt in the semifinals and then lost in the Sweet Sixteen to Xavier, their worst finish since 1993-94. During the regular season, Summitt earned her 750th win in the second game against UConn, a 92–88 victory. The team also finished with its fourth straight 30-win season.

In the 2001-02 season, The Lady Vols won their fifth straight SEC championship, but fell again in the conference tournament, this time to LSU. In the NCAA tournament, Tennessee reached the Final Four again, with a 5-point win over Vanderbilt. This trip to the Final Four marked Summitt's 13th appearance, which broke Coach John Wooden's record of 12, and earned her 788th win, which tied Summitt with Jody Conradt for the winningest coach in women's basketball history. However, the Lady Vols fell in the national semifinals to Connecticut, which wound up winning the championship and capping an undefeated season. This loss ended the season at 29-5, one win shy of extending Summitt's streak of 30-win seasons. Summitt did achieve more milestones during the season; a 106-66 win over USC marked Summitt's 200th win at home, a victory against Louisiana Tech was her 300th win against a ranked opponent and her 93-65 win over Arkansas was her 1,000th game as a coach, including international contests.

During the 2002-03 season, the Lady Vols compiled their 6th perfect SEC season and beat powerhouses Duke and Louisiana Tech, among others, during the regular season, but lost to Texas and UConn. In the NCAA tournament, the Lady Vols made it to the title game only to lose to the Huskies again 73-68. During the season, Summitt earned her 800th win, 76-57 over DePaul and was the fastest coach to reach this milestone.

The 2003-04 season was similar to the previous year. The Lady Vols defeated most of their regular season opponents, including Duke and Louisiana Tech, but dropped games to UConn and Texas. The Lady Vols again went 14-0 in the regular season against SEC competition, but again fell in the conference tournament. Tennessee won five games in the NCAA tournament only to lose 70-61 to Connecticut in the championship game for the second year in a row and third time in five years.

In 2004-05, Tennessee broke its losing streak against Connecticut with a narrow 68-67 regular season victory. Candace Parker, a highly regarded and nationally known high school player joined the Lady Vols. However, because of injuries, she was redshirted and didn't play that sesson. Tennessee suffered losses during the regular season to Duke, Rutgers, and LSU, while beating Stanford and Louisiana Tech. LSU's win over Tennessee gave the Tigers the SEC title, breaking Tennessee's streak of seven straight regular season conference championships. However, Tennessee won its first tournament title in four years by avenging its earlier loss to LSU loss with a 67-65 win in the SEC Championship game. In the NCAA tournament, Tennessee advanced to its fourth Final Four in a row by defeating a Rutgers team that had beaten them earlier in the year. In the Final Four, the Lady Vols blew a 16-point lead to fall 68-64 to underdog Michigan State. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Lady Vols defeated Purdue. This victory gave Pat Summitt her 880th win, breaking North Carolina coach Dean Smith's record of 879 wins, and making her the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history.

By 2005–06, Candace Parker had recovered from her injuries and became a starter. During the season, the Lady Vols dropped three games to SEC foes, LSU, Florida, and Kentucky, to record their worst SEC season since the 1996-97 season. However they won their second straight game against Connecticut and rebounded from a sub-par SEC season to win the conference tournament for the second year in a row. In the NCAA tournament, Tennessee received a number two seed instead of the one seed Summitt believed her team deserved, and played North Carolina in the regional finals. Tennessee trailed from the beginning, fell behind by as many as 16, rallied to cut the lead to five, but ultimately fell 75-63. This loss marked the first time in five years Summitt would not appear in the Final Four.

In the 2006-07 season, Tennessee defeated four ranked teams in a row: UCLA, Stanford, Arizona State, and Middle Tennessee, lost a regular season rematch with the North Carolina Tar Heels and another game against top-ranked Duke, and defeated UConn for the third time in a row. Later, in Baton Rouge, the Lady Vols clinched the SEC title against LSU in a game where Candace Parker scored 27. However in the SEC tournament semifinals, Tennessee fell to the Tigers. In the NCAA tournament, Summitt's team easily made it to the Final Four, dispatching teams that included SEC foe Mississippi and 13-seeded Cinderella, Marist, winning each game by at least 14. In the Final Four, Tennessee again faced North Carolina. Despite shooting poorly, the Lady Vols came back from a 12-point deficit with 8:18 remaining to win 56-50. In the championship game against Rutgers, Tennessee won its seventh title. During the season, Summitt appeared at a men's basketball game dressed in a cheerleader outfit and led the crowd in a rendition of "Rocky Top" to show her support for the team. A month earlier, her men's counterpart, Bruce Pearl, showed up at a Lady Vols game in orange body paint.

The 2007-08 season started off with the top-ranked Lady Vols going 3-0, including wins over 9th-ranked Oklahoma and 22nd-ranked Texas. The win over Texas was Summitt's 950th. After two more wins, top=ranked Tennessee knocked off fourth-ranked North Carolina, 83-79, in a rematch of the previous year's Final Four match-up. Tennessee won their next four games, then headed to California for a match-up with 5th-ranked Stanford. Down by 4 with less than 30 seconds remaining, the Lady Vols managed to tie the game up and send it to overtime, but lost, 73-69. The Lady Vols responded by winning their next seven games, giving them a 17-1 record going into a match-up with Duke. Candace Parker's 17 points and 12 rebounds, including a bucket with 22 seconds remaining, helped the Lady Vols defeat the Blue Devils for the first time in four years, 67-64. Tennessee would win the rest of their regular season games and defeat LSU for the SEC Tournament Championship. The Lady Vols won four straight games in the NCAA Tournament heading toward their third matchup of the year against the LSU Tigers in the Final Four. Alexis Hornbuckle tipped in a Nicky Anosike missed layup with 0.7 seconds left to win the game, 47-46. On April 8, 2008, Tennessee won its second consecutive national championship (and eighth overall) by beating Stanford 64-48.

Summitt's first milestone of the 2008-09 season was a 73-43 win over the Georgia Bulldogs on February 5, 2009 at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville. The win was number 1000 for Coach Summitt. The Thompson Boling Arena's court was named "The Summitt" in her honor. The 2008-09 season ended with a dubious first, as the Lady Vols lost 71-55 in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Ball State in Bowling Green, Kentucky, marking the first time Tennessee would not appear in the Sweet 16 since the NCAA first sanctioned championships in women's basketball for the 1981-82 season.

Health

In August of 2011, Summitt announced that she had been diagnosed three months earlier with early-onset dementia, Alzheimer's type. Despite the diagnosis, she has stated that she plans to coach the 2011-2012 season. In an interview with GoVolsXtra.com, she stated, "There's not going to be any pity party and I'’ll make sure of that."

Coaching style

Summitt is regarded as one of the toughest coaches in college basketball history, men's or women's.

Summitt says that she has toned down her style over the years. In 2007 she told ''U.S. News and World Report'' that she does not yell at her players nearly as much as she did earlier in her career.

Tournament record

Pat Summitt has 15 Southeastern Conference regular season titles with the Lady Vols, as well as 14 tournament titles. Summitt's Lady Vols have made an appearance in every NCAA Tournament, as well as every Sweet 16, except for 2009, and have appeared 18 times in the Final Four. When she made her 13th trip to the ''Final Four'' as a coach in 2002, she surpassed John Wooden as the NCAA coach with the most trips to the Final Four. Summitt is a seven-time SEC Coach of the year and a 7-time NCAA Coach of the year and has won eight national titles, including three consecutive titles from 1996 to 1998. Summitt is known for scheduling tough opponents for her team to play in the regular season, in order to prepare them for the post-season. In her years of coaching, her teams have played top ten ranked teams over 250 times.

In the 1997–1998 tournament, her team went undefeated the entire season, winning all 30 regular and 9 tournament games, earning Summitt's sixth championship. Some sportswriters considered that year's team the greatest team ever in college women's basketball. This was the third consecutive championship for the Lady Vols, and the third for heralded players Chamique Holdsclaw and Kellie Jolly. Holdsclaw was named a consensus All-American, as was freshman Tamika Catchings.

Summitt and the 1996-1997 championship team were the subject of an HBO documentary titled ''A Cinderella Season: The Lady Vols Fight Back''. That year, the Lady Vols posted just a 23–10 record heading into the NCAA tournament, with two losses to Louisiana Tech, setbacks against national powers Georgia, Stanford and UConn, but also shocking losses to SEC lesser lights Arkansas, Auburn, and LSU (which was 7–20 just two seasons prior and had not yet established itself as a perennial national power). However, Tennessee righted itself during the tournament, shocking previously undefeated UConn in the regional final, 91–81, before defeating Notre Dame and Old Dominion in the Final Four in Cincinnati.

Awards and titles

16-time SEC Champions (1980, 1985, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011) 15-time SEC Tournament Champions (1980, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011) 8-time SEC Coach of the Year (1983, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2011) 7-time NCAA Coach of the Year (1983, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2004) 8-time NCAA Champions (1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2008)

Honors

1999: Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the inaugural class.

2000: Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

April 2000.: Named the Naismith Basketball Coach of the Century.

2008: Named Best Coach/Manager ESPY Award. Award encompasses all sports college and professional

2009: Named to ''Sporting News''' list of the 50 greatest coaches of all time (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, college basketball, and college football). She is listed in position 11.

Summitt is the only person to have two courts used by NCAA Division I basketball teams named in her honor: "Pat Head Summitt Court" at the University of Tennessee at Martin, and "The Summitt" at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

She also has two streets named after her: "Pat Head Summitt Street" on the University of Tennessee campus and "Pat Head Summitt Avenue" on the University of Tennessee at Martin campus.

Records

Summitt has the most national championships in NCAA women's basketball with 8.

Summitt is the only men's or women's basketball coach in NCAA history to reach 1000 wins. She has never had a losing season.

Summitt has taken Tennessee to 18 Final Four appearances, more than any other men's or women's coach. No other women's basketball program has more than 11 appearances. John Wooden holds the men's coaching record with 12.

Tennessee under Summitt is the only program to be invited to every NCAA post-season women's tournament since its inception in 1982. Summitt's teams have received a Number 1 seed in 20 of the 29 tournaments. Only once (2009) has Tennessee failed to advance beyond the first round.

Summitt has won 109 games in the NCAA post-season tournament. No other women's basketball program has played in 100 NCAA tournament games.

Summitt has more 20-win seasons (35) than any other coach in women's basketball history.

Summitt is third all-time in winning percentage among women's Division 1 coaches with a minimum of 10 seasons. Summitt is at .844, behind Leon Barmore of Louisiana Tech (.869) and Auriemma of Connecticut (.862).

Forty-five of her former players have gone on to become coaches.

Since Summitt became Tennessee's coach in 1974, every Lady Vol basketball player who has completed her eligibility at Tennessee has received a college degree or is in the process of completing degree requirements.

Head coaching record

† Also won SEC Tournament Championship. # Also won SEC Regular Season Championship. ‡ Also won both SEC Regular Season and Tournament Championship.

Sources: SEC records; Conference champions

See also

List of college women's basketball coaches with 600 wins

References

External links

Selected coverage of Pat Head Summitt , ''Knoxville News Sentinel''

coachsummitt.com

Summitt biography

"Eyes of the Storm" - a 1998 ''Sports Illustrated'' feature article about Summitt by Gary Smith

Category:American basketball coaches Category:American basketball players Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players at the 1975 Pan American Games Category:Basketball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from Tennessee Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States Category:Tennessee Lady Vols basketball coaches Category:Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:People from Clarksville, Tennessee Category:People from Knoxville, Tennessee Category:People with dementia Category:Tennessee–Martin Skyhawks women's basketball players Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:Olympic medalists in basketball

de:Pat Summitt fr:Pat Summitt he:פט סאמית

Coordinates	52.65°0′0″N5.07°0′0″N
name	Mike Krzyzewski
sport	Basketball
current title	Head coach
current team	Duke
current conference	ACC
current record	827–225 ()
birth date	February 13, 1947
birth place	Chicago, Illinois
player years	1966–1969
player teams	Army
player positions	Point guard, shooting guard
coach years	1974–19751975–198019791980–present19841987199019922006–present
coach teams	Indiana (assistant)ArmyUSA (assistant)DukeUSA (assistant)USAUSAUSA (assistant)USA
overall record	900–284 ()
tournament record	79–23 (NCAA)2–2 (NIT)54–18 (ACC)
championships	4 NCAA Tournament Championships (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010)11 Regional Championships – Final Four (1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2010)13 ACC Tournament Championships (1986, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011)12 ACC Regular Season Championships (1986, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2010)Gold medal – Men's Basketball (2008 Summer Olympics) Gold medal – FIBA World Championship (2010)Accomplishments8 NCAA Championship Games: (1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2010) 12 Elite Eights: (1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2010)
awards	2x Basketball Times National Coach of the Year (1986, 1997)3x Naismith College Coach of the Year (1989, 1992, 1999)NABC Coach of the Year (1991)5x ACC Coach of the Year (1984, 1986, 1997, 1999, 2000)
baskhof year	2001
baskhof id	michael-mike-krzyzewski
cbbaskhof year	2006 }}

Michael William "Mike" Krzyzewski ( ; ; born February 13, 1947) is the men's college basketball coach of the Duke Blue Devils. He is also the coach of the United States men's national basketball team, whom he led to a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Nicknamed "Coach K", Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to four NCAA Championships, 11 Final Fours (tied for second most in history), 12 ACC regular season titles, and 13 ACC championships over 30 seasons at Duke. Krzyzewski has amassed an NCAA-record 79 NCAA tournament victories, while averaging more than 25 wins per season. On March 1, 2008, Krzyzewski became the sixth men's basketball coach in NCAA history to reach the 800-win plateau. Krzyzewski has totaled 900 career victories (as of March 20, 2011), making him the most winning active coach, and putting him three wins away from being the most winning men's basketball coach in NCAA Division I history. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame following the 2001 season.

Early years

Krzyzewski was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Polish-American parents Emily M. (née Pituch) and William Krzyzewski. He has roots in the Pittsburgh area, as his maternal grandparents emigrated from Poland to Keisterville, Pennsylvania. Up until he was 10 or 12, he visited there every summer; Krzyzewski had stated that he suspects the purpose of such trips was to "teach you to know where you came from and to be proud of it."

Krzyzewski attended (Archbishop) Weber High School in Chicago. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1969, and played basketball under Bob Knight while training to become an officer in the Army. In 2005 he was presented West Point's Distinguished Graduate Award. He was captain of the Army basketball team in his senior season, 1968–69, leading his team to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in New York City. From 1969 to 1974, Krzyzewski served in the Army and directed service teams for three years, and then followed that up with two years as head coach of the U.S. Military Academy Prep School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Tenure at Duke

On March 18, 1980, Krzyzewski was named the head coach at Duke University after five seasons at Army. After a few rebuilding seasons, he and the Blue Devils became a fixture on the national basketball scene with 27 NCAA Tournament berths in the past 28 years and 16 consecutive from 1996 to 2011, which is the second-longest current streak of tournament appearances behind Kansas, which has appeared in the tournament in 22 consecutive seasons. Overall, he has taken his program to postseason play in 28 of his 31 years at Duke and is the most winning active coach in men's NCAA Tournament play with a 79–23 record for a .775 winning percentage. His Duke teams have won 13 ACC Championships, been to 11 Final Fours, and won four NCAA tournament National Championships. On February 13, 2010, Krzyzewski coached in his 1000th game as the Duke head coach. On March 20, 2011, Krzyzewski won his 900th game, becoming only the second head coach with at least 900 wins, the other being his head coach at Army, Bobby Knight.

Coaching awards/recognition

1986, ''Basketball Times'', CBS/Chevrolet, UPI National COY awards

1989, Naismith National COY

1991, United States Sports Academy awarded Kryzewski the Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award.

2001, Victor Award

1984, ACC COY

1986, ACC COY

1997, ACC COY

1999, ACC COY

2000, ACC COY

2010, Chris Phillips Award

2001, Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame.

2001, ''Time'' magazine and CNN named Krzyzewski "America's Best Coach"; the award was not limited to any particular sport.

2008, United States Sports Academy awarded Krzyzewski the Amos Alonzo Stagg Coaching Award.

2011, 900 career wins (2nd Coach in Division 1 Basketball to win 900 plus games)

Krzyzewski has totaled 900 career victories (as of March 20, 2011 against the Michigan Wolverines), making him the most winning active coach and the second most winning all time coach in the Men's NCAA Division I ranks. Only Krzyzewski's mentor, Bob Knight, has more NCAA Division I wins (902). Other coaches with 800 or more wins include Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun and Eddie Sutton. His Duke Basketball team won more games (291) in a decade, beginning in the year 2000, than any other team in any one decade in men's NCAA Basketball history.

During his long tenure at Duke, Krzyzewski has been given the opportunity to coach in the NBA four times. The first time came after the 1990 season when he led the Blue Devils to their third straight Final Four appearance. The Boston Celtics offered a coaching position to Krzyzewski, but he soon declined their offer. The next season, Krzyzewski proceeded to lead the Blue Devils to the first of two straight national championships. In 1994, he was pursued by the Portland Trail Blazers, but again he chose to stay with Duke. In 2004, Krzyzewski was also interviewed by the Los Angeles Lakers following the departure of high-profile coach Phil Jackson. He was given a formal offer from Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, reportedly for five years, $40 million and part ownership, but again turned down the NBA. In 2010, the New Jersey Nets were reportedly willing to pay Krzyzewski between $12 million and $15 million per season to coach the Nets. Krzyzewski again declined the offer and stayed at Duke.

Duke has named the floor at its basketball venue, Cameron Indoor Stadium, "Coach "K" Court" in his honor. Similarly, the grassy area outside of Cameron has been named Krzyzewskiville or "K-Ville." On February 28, 2007, Duke named its new basketball practice facility the "Michael W. Krzyzewski Center" — Dedicated to Academic & Athletic Excellence. The building was dedicated on February 8, 2008, and also houses the Academic Support Center for all of Duke's 600 student-athletes and an expanded Sports Hall of Fame and event center.

His alma mater inducted him into its sports hall of fame on September 11, 2009, the night before the Army vs. Duke football game. Additionally, West Point annually awards the "Coach K Teaching Character Through Sports" award each spring to cadets and coaches who display superior ethics and character through sport.

International career

Krzyzewski has been the head coach of several USA men's national teams, winning a silver medal at the 1987 World University Games, a bronze medal at the 1990 FIBA World Championship, a silver medal at the 1990 Goodwill Games, a bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, and gold medals at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, the 2010 FIBA World Championship, and 2008 Summer Olympics.

He was also an assistant coach to the USA teams which won gold medals at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics as well as the 1979 Pan American Games Team and 1992 Tournament of the Americas.

In 2005, he was appointed coach of the national team through the Beijing Olympics. In the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the USA won the bronze medal after losing in the semifinals to Greece and then beating defending Olympic gold medalist Argentina for third place.

On August 24, 2008, Krzyzewski's U.S. team won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. "The Redeem Team" finished the tournament with a perfect 8–0 record.

Despite initially only being appointed for four years, Krzyzewski agreed to lead the U.S. through another Olympic cycle. He coached the U.S. team for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and led Team USA to a perfect 8-0 record, defeating host Turkey in the gold medal game, 81-64.

Krzyzewski has amassed a total record of 35-1 (.972) as head coach of the USA National Team through the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The team has captured three golds (FIBA Americas Championship 2007, 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2010 FIBA World Championship) and one bronze (2006 FIBA World Championship). His teams have yet to lose in pool play.

Coaching tree

Many of Krzyzewski's assistants or players have become head coaches at other schools:

Tommy Amaker (Seton Hall (1997-2001), Michigan (2001-2007), Harvard (2007-present))

Bob Bender (Washington (1993-2002))

Mike Brey (Delaware (1995-2000), Notre Dame (2000-present))

Jeff Capel (VCU (2002-2006), Oklahoma (2006-2011))

Johnny Dawkins (Stanford (2008-present))

Mike Dement (UNC Greensboro (1991-1995, 2005-present), SMU (1995-2004))

David Henderson (Delaware (2000-2006))

Tim O'Toole (Fairfield (1998-2006))

Quin Snyder (Missouri (1999-2006), NBDL Austin Toros (2007-2010))

Three former players (Steve Wojciechowski, Chris Collins and Jeff Capel) currently work under him as assistants at Duke. Another former player and assistant, Nate James, works under him as a special assistant. Former player Chris Carrawell, has been on staff since the 2007-08 season and is currently employed as assistant video coordinator and strength & conditioning coach.

No team coached by one of Krzyzewski's former players has beaten the Blue Devils. However, during the 2007 NCAA tournament (1st round) the Blue Devils fell to Virginia Commonwealth University, whose core players had been recruited by former VCU coach Jeff Capel before he left for the head coaching position at Oklahoma.

Krzyzewski has also coached NBA general managers: Danny Ferry, formerly of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Billy King, of the New Jersey Nets.

Former player and captain Chip Engelland has served as assistant coach and shooting specialist to the San Antonio Spurs since 2005.

Notable players coached

Alaa Abdelnaby

Mark Alarie

Tommy Amaker

William Avery

Shane Battier

Jay Bilas

Carlos Boozer

Elton Brand

Jeff Capel III

Chris Carrawell

Chris Collins

Andre Dawkins

Johnny Dawkins

Luol Deng

Taymon Domzalski

Chris Duhon

Mike Dunleavy, Jr.

Daniel Ewing

Danny Ferry

David Henderson

Gerald Henderson, Jr.

Grant Hill

Greg Koubek

Nick Horvath

Bobby Hurley

Kyrie Irving

Nate James

Dahntay Jones

Billy King

Taylor King

Christian Laettner

Trajan Langdon

Reggie Love

Corey Maggette

Roshown McLeod

Josh McRoberts

DeMarcus Nelson

Martin Nessley

Greg Newton

Cherokee Parks

Greg Paulus

Shavlik Randolph

J. J. Redick

Jon Scheyer

Kyle Singler

Nolan Smith

Jason Williams

Shelden Williams

Steve Wojciechowski

Brian Zoubek

Head coaching record

See also

List of college men's basketball coaches with 600 wins

NCAA Men's Division I Final Four appearances by coaches

NCAA Men's Division I Elite Eight appearances by coaches

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Consecutive Appearances

Notes

References

External links

Official site

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:American people of Polish descent Category:American basketball coaches Category:American basketball players Category:Army Black Knights men's basketball coaches Category:Army Black Knights men's basketball players Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Basketball players from Illinois Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Category:Duke Blue Devils men's basketball coaches Category:Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball coaches Category:National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Olympic coaches Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:Point guards Category:Shooting guards Category:United States Army officers

de:Mike Krzyzewski es:Mike Krzyzewski fr:Mike Krzyzewski it:Mike Krzyzewski lv:Maiks Kšiževskis ja:マイク・シャシェフスキー pl:Mike Krzyzewski pt:Mike Krzyzewski ru:Кржижевски, Майк simple:Mike Krzyzewski fi:Mike Krzyzewski tr:Mike Krzyzewski zh:迈克·沙舍夫斯基

Coordinates	52.65°0′0″N5.07°0′0″N
name	Chamique Holdsclaw
profile	chamique_holdsclaw
league	WNBA
number	1
position	Forward
height ft	6
height in	2
weight lbs	172
nationality	American
birth date	August 09, 1977
birth place	Astoria, Queens, New York
college	Tennessee
draft	1st overall
draft year	1999
draft team	Washington Mystics
career start	1999
career teams	Washington Mystics (1999–2004) Los Angeles Sparks (2005–2007) Atlanta Dream (2009)San Antonio Silver Stars (2010)
awards	Sullivan Award (1998)Naismith Award (1998, 1999)WNBA Rookie of the Year (1999)6× WNBA All-Star (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005) }}

}}

Chamique Shaunta Holdsclaw (born August 9, 1977) is a professional basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) most recently under a contract with the San Antonio Silver Stars. She announced her retirement from the Los Angeles Sparks on June 11, 2007, though she eventually came out of retirement to play with the Atlanta Dream for the 2009 WNBA Season.

High school years

Holdsclaw grew up playing basketball. While attending Christ The King Regional High School in Queens, New York, she played for the school's women's basketball team, and led them to four straight New York State Championships in basketball. Holdsclaw was named a High School All-American by the WBCA. She participated in the WBCA High School All-America Game in 1995, scoring eight points.

College years

Holdsclaw went to the University of Tennessee from 1995 to 1999, where she played under coach Pat Summitt and helped to lead the Lady Vols to the women's NCAA's first ever three consecutive Women's Basketball Championships in 1996, 1997 and 1998. The 1998 championship was Tennessee's first ever undefeated season at 39-0 and also set an NCAA record for the most wins ever in a season. She also helped lead Tennessee to two SEC regular season titles in 1998 and 1999 and to three SEC tournament championships in 1996, 1998 and 1999.

At Tennessee, Holdsclaw was a four-time Kodak All-America, one of only six women's basketball players to earn the honor (along with teammate Tamika Catchings, Cheryl Miller of USC, Ann Meyers of UCLA, Lynette Woodard of Kansas and LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State.) Holdsclaw finished her career with 3,025 points and 1,295 rebounds, making her the all-time leading scoring and rebounder at Tennessee in men's or women's history, the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in SEC women's history, and the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in the NCAA tournament women's history with 470 points and 197 rebounds. She was also only the fifth women's basketball player in NCAA history to have 3,000 points (a list including Jackie Stiles of Southwest Missouri State, Patricia Hoskins of Mississippi Valley State, Lorri Bauman of Drake, Cheryl Miller of USC, and Cindy Blodgett of Maine). She is also one of five women's collegiate basketball players to ever accumulate over 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 assists and 300 steals (a list that includes teammate Tamika Catchings, Cheryl Miller of USC, Sophia Young of Baylor, and Armintie Price of Mississippi.) In 1999, Holdsclaw received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Holdsclaw also won the Naismith trophy for player of the year twice, in 1998 and 1999 and posted a 134-17 win/loss record during her remarkable career as a Lady Vol. In 2000 she was named Naismith's Player of the Century for the 1990s and was also part of an ESPY award given to the Lady Vols as Co-Team of the Decade for the 1990s.

In 2006, Holdsclaw was named to a women's collegiate basketball silver anniversary team for being picked as one of the 25 greatest players of the past 25 years. She was also picked as one of the 5 greatest players in the SEC of the past 25 years.

Holdsclaw is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

WNBA career

In the 1999 WNBA Draft, Holdsclaw was selected by the Washington Mystics 1st overall. After this selection, Chamique gained the distinction of being the first, and only, female athlete to appear on the cover of SLAM Magazine. Furthermore, Chamique was pictured in a New York Knicks jersey, implying that perhaps she was good enough to be the first woman NBA player.

In her first season, she was named the Rookie of the Year and was a starter in the inaugural WNBA All-Star Game. She averaged 16.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in her first season. The next year, Holdsclaw was named to the Olympic team, helping to lead them to a gold medal.

During her subsequent seasons in the WNBA, Holdsclaw continued to improve her numbers. In 2002, despite missing several games with an ankle injury, Holdsclaw averaged a double-double per game with 19.9 points and 11.5 rebounds. By 2003, she was averaging 20.5 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. On July 24, 2004, however, she failed to show up for a game against Charlotte, played one more game in reserve and then did not play the rest of the season including the entire playoffs. At first, Holdsclaw refused to discuss the reason for her absence, other than to rule out cancer, pregnancy and drug addiction, but following the season, she told ''The Washington Post'' that she was suffering from clinical depression and that she had been ashamed to discuss it with the public.

On March 21, 2005, Holdsclaw was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for DeLisha Milton-Jones.

In May 2006, Holdsclaw took a sudden two-week leave from playing for the Sparks, but later clarified that this was due to the serious illnesses of her father and stepfather. As of late June, she was averaging 14.4 points per game and 7 rebounds per game.

On June 11, 2007, only a few weeks into the 2007 WNBA season, she surprisingly announced she was retiring and did not immediately provide any explanation as to her sudden departure.

On December 17, 2008, the Atlanta Dream traded the 13th pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for the rights to Holdsclaw. Holdsclaw stated she definitely considered a return to the WNBA if healthy, and did. Holdsclaw has found herself to be a constant part of the team's offense and a starter that season, despite an injury that kept her out several games toward the end of the season. However, she returned just in time for one game in the playoffs. The Dream lost to the Detroit Shock.

On May 19, 2010, she was released from the Dream after requesting a trade and did not report to the team. Two days later, she signed with the San Antonio Silver Stars.

International career

Europe

2004-2005: Ros Casares Valencia 2006-2007: TS Wisla Can-Pack Krakow, championship, MVP of the finals; season's average: 17.9 points per game 2007-2008: Lotos PKO BP Gdynia 2008-2009: TS Wisla Can-Pack Krakow

Vital statistics

Position: Forward

Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)

College: University of Tennessee

Team(s): Washington Mystics, Los Angeles Sparks and Atlanta Dream

See also

List of NCAA Division I women's basketball players with 3000 points

Notes

External links

WNBA Player Profile

Associated Press article about Holdsclaw's depression

Official Website

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:American women's basketball players Category:Washington Mystics players Category:Los Angeles Sparks players Category:Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Category:Tennessee Lady Vols basketball players Category:James E. Sullivan Award recipients Category:Women's National Basketball Association first overall draft picks Category:Sportspeople from Queens Category:Power forwards (basketball) Category:Basketball players from New York Category:People from Astoria, Queens Category:Olympic medalists in basketball Category:African American women's basketball players

de:Chamique Holdsclaw fr:Chamique Holdsclaw pl:Chamique Holdsclaw

Coordinates	52.65°0′0″N5.07°0′0″N
Name	Candace Parker
Profile	candace_parker
Nationality	American
Position	Forward
Height ft	6
Height in	4
Weight lbs	175
League	WNBA
Team	Los Angeles Sparks
Number	3
Birth date	April 19, 1986
Birth place	St. Louis, Missouri
Highschool	Naperville Central High
College	Tennessee
Draft	1st overall
Draft year	2008
Draft team	Los Angeles Sparks
Career start	2008
Overseas career start	2009
Career teams	Los Angeles Sparks (2008–present)
Overseas career teams	UMMC Ekaterinburg (2009–present)
Awards	Wade Trophy winner (2007)USBWA Player of the Year (2007, 2008)Wooden Award (2007, 2008)Naismith Award (2008)Honda-Broderick Cup (2008)WNBA Rookie of the Year (2008)WNBA MVP (2008) 1× WNBA All-Star (2011)
medal templates	}}

| medal_templates-expand = true }}

Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986) is an All-American basketball player for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks and is also the younger sister of NBA player Anthony Parker. She was drafted to the team from Tennessee in 2008. She may be best known for being the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game and the first woman to dunk twice in a college game —she set both milestones as a redshirt freshman on March 19, 2006. She also became only the second player to dunk in a WNBA game on June 22, 2008.

A versatile player, she is mainly a forward, but was listed on Tennessee's roster as a forward, center, and guard. She was a starter on the Lady Vols basketball team, winners of the 2007 and 2008 NCAA championships.

Parker won the 2009 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice award as the favorite female athlete in the sports category.

Early life

Candace Parker was born on April 19, 1986 to Natasha, who currently works for the front office of the Chicago Sky, and Larry, who is in the insurance business. She has two older brothers: Anthony Parker, who is an NBA player, and Marcus, who is a doctor.

She grew up in Naperville, Illinois. Her whole family loved basketball, and she began playing at an early age. Her father had played at the University of Iowa in the 1970s. The family was also huge Chicago Bulls fans. Candace was 2nd guessing about playing basketball, fearing she would not live up to the level of play her father and brother demonstrated, so she focused on playing soccer. It wasn't until the eighth grade that her family convinced her to play. Her father would help coach and critique her. Candace said of the experience, "He did things to make me mad, to challenge me, because I was so much more athletic and had so much more knowledge of the game than everyone else that sometimes I just coasted. If me and my dad went to a park and he didn't think I was practicing hard enough, he'd just get in the car and leave. And I'd have to run home. I mean run home. Once I figured that out, I'd always try to go to close-by-parks."

Playing career

High School

Like her older brother Anthony Parker, who is currently playing guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, she attended Naperville Central High School in Naperville, Illinois; she graduated in 2004. While she was in her sophomore year, she became the first female high-school player and only the fifth woman at any level, to dunk a basketball in a sanctioned game. "The first two times I tried it in games I failed. Embarrassing. The third time was a charm, and then cameras and reporters were everywhere--everyone wanted to talk about dunking." While in high school, Parker led her basketball team to Class AA state titles in 2003 and 2004 and amassed numerous accolades.

She is the only two-time award winner of the ''USA Today'' Player of the Year, winning the award in 2003 and 2004. Parker also won the Naismith and Gatorade Awards as national basketball player of the year for each of those years. She joins Marion Jones, Greg Oden, Brandon Knight and LeBron James as the only back to back winners of the Gatorade honor. Parker was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2004 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored nine points. In March 2004, she won the slam dunk contest at McDonald's All-American Game, and she beat a lot of the top male athletes in the country, including two first round draft picks. She also won the USA Today All-USA high school basketball team, or the USA Today Player of the Year Award. Carol Ross, head coach of the University of Mississippi Ole Miss Rebels, said this of Parker: "She's the toughest matchup in the game. On many nights, she's the best guard on the floor, the best post on the floor, the best rebounder on the floor, the best passer on the floor, and, let's not forget, the best scorer on the floor. She's got the strut of a competitor and the stuff of a champion." A sports management major who had a 3.35 grade point average as of December 2007, she was named University Division Academic All-American of the Year in women's basketball for 2008 by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

On April 8, 2008, Parker led the Lady Vols to their second straight NCAA women's title, the eighth championship for Tennessee. She was also named the MVP for the second consecutive tournament, joining Cheryl Miller, Chamique Holdsclaw and Diana Taurasi as the only female players to have done so. She won the honor despite suffering a dislocated shoulder during her team's regional finals win, but returned (wearing a white long-sleeve T-shirt under her jersey) and led the Lady Vols to the title. Although Parker had a year of eligibility remaining due to her medical redshirt in the 2004-2005 season, she opted to enter the WNBA Draft following the championship victory. While at Tennessee, she compiled a record of 101 wins and 10 losses.

WNBA

Just after the NCAA victory, Parker was selected as the first pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. She currently plays alongside Olympic teammates Tina Thompson and Delisha Milton-Jones. Shannon Bobbitt (Parker's teammate at Tennessee) joined the Sparks after being drafted in the second round.

On May 17, 2008, in her debut game against the Phoenix Mercury, she recorded 34 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. Her 34 points broke the record for a rookie in a debut game. The record was previously held by Cynthia Cooper, who scored 25 points in her debut game in 1997.

On June 22, 2008, she became the second woman in WNBA history-after her teammate Lisa Leslie-to dunk during a regulation WNBA game against the Indiana Fever and Michelle Snow in the 2006 WNBA All-Star game. The dunk was on the same basket as the dunk of her teammate.

Parker was named the Hanns-G 'Go Beyond' Rookie of the Month for the month of May 2008. She received the same honor for July 2008.

In August 2008, the WNBA suspended play for a couple of weeks to some of their players to join the U.S.'s National Women's Basketball at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Parker was selected to go, as was teammate Lisa Leslie, and the US team cruised with 8 straight victories to achieve the gold medal. They won games with an average margin of 38.8 points. They faced Australia in the final game, and won, 92-65. Parker averaged 9.4 points in the tournament, and scored 14 in the finals game.

On October 3, 2008, she was named the Hanns-G 'Go Beyond' Rookie of the Year as well as Most Valuable Player for the 2008 WNBA season. She became the first WNBA player to win both the Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player in the same season. In addition, she also joined Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld as the only professional American basketball players to win both ROY and MVP trophies in the same season.

Candace Parker missed the 2009 WNBA season after having her baby girl Lailaa, but on June 30 Candace returned to practice with her teammates for the first time. She played her first game back from maternity leave on July 5, 2009. Candace earned 2nd Team All-WNBA honors despite missing almost a full month. She led the Sparks to the Western Conference Finals but lost in 3 games to the Phoenix Mercury. In the playoffs Parker averaged 18 points and over 10 rebounds per game. She missed most of the 2010 WNBA season due to a shoulder injury.

In 2011, Candace Parker played six games. During the seventh game, with 5:56 left in the third quarter, Parker went down after grabbing a defensive rebound and making brief contact with Quanitra Hollingsworth. After getting an MRI on June 27th, she found out she had a torn meniscus in her right knee. Parker may be out of the season for approximately six weeks.

Parker was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009. The team selected to play for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team will travel to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they compete in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational.

The Brawl

On July 22, 2008 Parker was involved in a fight during a game against the Detroit Shock. With 4.5 seconds before the game was officially over, the fighting began on the court after Plenette Pierson made a hard box out after a free throw on Candace Parker; the two players became entangled and Parker fell to the ground. As Parker was down, Pierson stormed over to Parker and aggressively walked over the top of her; in response, Parker tackled Pierson to the court. Parker threw a punch at Pierson before being tackled by Deanna Nolan as players and coaches from both teams joined in. Coach Rick Mahorn came off the bench — as a peacemaker — but the 6-10, 300-plus pounder incited more violence when he inadvertently knocked Los Angeles forward Lisa Leslie to the floor. Leslie's teammate, DeLisha Milton-Jones, then came to her rescue by punching a stunned Mahorn in the shoulder. In response, Mahorn was hit by Sparks players Milton-Jones, Murriel Page and Shannon Bobbitt. Pierson, Parker, Milton-Jones, and Mahorn were all ejected. The altercation also resulted in a season-ending ACL injury to Cheryl Ford, who was trying to restrain her teammate.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2008 | align="left" | Los Angeles | 33 || 33 || 33.6 || .523 || .423 || .733 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|9.5 || 3.4 || 1.3 || 2.3 || 2.82 || 18.5 |- | align="left" | 2009 | align="left" | Los Angeles | 25 || 24 || 32.6 || .485 || .208 || .763 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|9.8 || 2.6 || 0.6 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|2.1 || 2.20 || 13.1 |- | align="left" | 2010 | align="left" | Los Angeles | 10 || 10 || 33.5 || .500 || .250 || .732 || 10.1 || 2.2 || 1.0 || 2.2 || 3.20 || 20.6 |- | align="left" | 2011 | align="left" | Los Angeles | 10 || 9 || 31.5 || .512 || .476 || .673 || 9.3 || 3.1 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 1.90 || 17.5 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" |4 years, 1 team | 78 || 76 || 33.0 || .507 || .349 || .731 || 9.6 || 2.9 || 1.0 || 2.0 || 2.55 || 16.9

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2008 | align="left" | Los Angeles | 6 || 6 || 36.5 || .459 || .000 || .759 || 9.8 || 3.8 || 1.5 || 2.2 || 2.83 || 15.0 |- | align="left" | 2009 | align="left" | Los Angeles | 6 || 6 || 35.2 || .535 || .250 || .705 || style="background:#D3D3D3"|10.7 || 1.7 || 0.8 || 1.8 || 1.67 || 18.0 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" |2 years, 1 team | 12 || 12 || 35.8 || .497 || .091 || .726 || 10.3 || 2.8 || 1.2 || 2.0 || 16.5

Personal life

On November 13, 2008, Parker married her fiancé, Shelden Williams, who was a college basketball star for Duke University, and current player for the New York Knicks. The couple welcomed a baby girl named Lailaa Nicole Williams at 11:29 AM on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. Lailaa was born weighing 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Parker grew up in Chicago adoring the Bulls and was a Michael Jordan fan. Her all-time favorite player is Ron Harper, of whom she has a picture hanging in her bedroom. She has two dogs: a St. Bernard mix named Fendi and a pug named Nino, who is named after a character in the movie ''New Jack City''. Parker’s favorite movies are ''Love and Basketball'' and ''He Got Game''. She also likes to listen to Disney soundtracks such as ''The Little Mermaid'' and watch ''Full House'' and ''The Cosby Show''.

Parker was named Academic All-American 2007–08 by the ESPN the magazine. She had a 3.55 GPA when she won this award.

Records

1st WNBA player to win WNBA MVP and WNBA Rookie of the Year Award in the same season.

1st WNBA player to dunk in consecutive games

Most points scored (34) by a rookie in her debut.

Awards

High School

All-Area Team (2001-2004: Chicago Sun Times, News-Gazette and Chicago Tribune) All-State Team (2001-2004: AP, Chicago Sun Times, News-Gazette and Chicago Tribune, IBCA) Gatorade Illinois State Player of the Year (2002–2004) Illinois Miss Basketball (2002–2004) Illinois State Player of the Year (2002–2004: Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Daily Herald, Naperville Sun and News-Gazette) First Team All-American (2002–2004: Nike, 2000-2004: Parade, Street & Smith's, USA Today, 2004: McDonald's) Second Team All-American (2002: Parade, Student Sports) Third Team All-American (2002: USA Today) Fourth Team All-American (2002: Street & Smith's) Naismith Prep Player of the Year (2003–2004) USA Today High School Player of the Year (2003–2004) 2004 Powerade Jam Fest Winner Gatorade High School Player of the Year (2003–2004) 2004 Women's Sports Foundation High School Athlete of the Year

College

2007/08 - Junior

2008 Academic All-America of the Year, University Division

2008 Associated Press Player of the Year

2008 Naismith Trophy Winner

* 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player

* 2008 John R. Wooden Award winner

* 2008 Basketball Honda Sports Award Winner

* 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament - Oklahoma City Region Most Outstanding Player

2008 ESPN.com Player of the Year

2007/08 Honda-Broderick Cup winner

2007/08 SEC Female Athlete of the Year

* 2008 Kodak All-American

* 2008 SEC Tournament MVP

* 2008 SEC Tournament First Team

* 2008 All-SEC First Team

2008 BET Female Athlete of the Year

2008 Best Female College Athlete ESPY Award winner

2008 Best Female Athlete ESPY Award winner

2006/07 - Sophomore

2007 SEC Player of the Week (2/12, 3/1)

2007 SEC Player of the Year

2007 First Team All-SEC

2007 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament - Dayton Regional Most Outstanding Player.

2007 1st Team All-American (AP, Kodak, John R. Wooden)

2007 Wade Trophy Winner

2007 USBWA Player of the Year

2007 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player

2007 John R. Wooden Award Winner

2007 Basketball Honda Sports Award Winner

2005/06 - Freshman

2006 NCAA Cleveland Regional All-Region Team

2006 SEC Tournament MVP

2006 SEC Freshman of the Year

2006 All-SEC First Team

2006 All-SEC Freshman Team

2006 SEC Freshman of the Week (12/5, 12/19, 1/10, 1/16)

2006 SEC Player of the Week (1/16)

2006 Lady Vol Athlete of the Week (11/28, 1/16)

2006 Lady Vol Athlete of the Month (January)

2006 AP Second Team All-American

2006 Kodak All-American

WNBA

2008 Most Valuable Player Award winner 2008 Rookie of the Year Award winner 2008 AP Female Athlete of the Year

2008 All-WNBA Team member

2008 WNBA All-Rookie Team member

See also

2008 WNBA Draft

References

External links

Candace Parker Official Site CandaceParker.com

Candace Parker Profile VIBE

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Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:American women's basketball players Category:American expatriate basketball people in Russia Category:Basketball players from Illinois Category:Basketball players from Missouri Category:Gatorade National Basketball Player of the Year Category:People from St. Louis, Missouri Category:People from Naperville, Illinois Category:Tennessee Lady Vols basketball players Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Category:Power forwards (basketball) Category:Women's National Basketball Association first overall draft picks Category:Los Angeles Sparks players Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Olympic medalists in basketball

de:Candace Parker es:Candace Parker fr:Candace Parker it:Candace Parker lv:Kendesa Pārkere mk:Кендис Паркер ja:キャンデース・パーカー ru:Паркер, Кэндис fi:Candace Parker tr:Candace Parker