Ready For Lift-Off

By Sean Gregory/Knoxville

It would rank among sports' all-time highlights, but, sadly, no cameras were on hand when Candace Parker, a 6-ft. 4-in. women's basketball prodigy at the University of Tennessee, took on a member of the men's team this summer one-on-one. At one stage, Parker, 19, drove to her right and leaped toward the basket. Her opponent rose to block her shot. What followed had probably never before happened in the history of hoops: Parker dunked the ball over the player's outstretched hand, as several men playing a pickup game nearby froze, jaws agape. A girl had dunked not only on a guy but on a guy who played major college basketball. Her victim? "I promised him I would not tell you that," says Parker. "He's already got it bad around campus. If it gets out there, it's going to be real bad. I can't do it."

One might call this discretion ladylike. But there's nothing demure about how Parker plays the game. She vaulted onto the sports scene in 2004, when she became the first girl to win the McDonald's High School All-American slam-dunk competition, beating two future NBA first-round draft picks in the process. Only three college women and one WNBA player have ever dunked during a game; Parker first slammed as a high school sophomore. Although her dunks fetch the most attention, her game is complete: she dribbles like a point guard and throws no-look passes from the post, and during one workout, the right-hander hit 22 out of 30 three-pointers--shooting left-handed.

With more young women playing organized basketball today--there are more than 472,000 high school and NCAA participants, up 21% over the past 15 years--and refining their ability, Parker represents a new wave of skilled female stars. "Candace will be the next player to change the sport," predicts Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman. "In 10 to 15 years, there will be a lot of Candace Parkers. But right now there's only one, and she's going to set the bar high. Young girls will strive to be her."

The sound of squeaky sneakers rang in Parker's ears even when she was a young child. Her mother Sara cradled 2-week-old Candace in a gym while watching eldest son Anthony play an A.A.U. game (Anthony, 30, spent three years in the NBA and now plays professionally in Israel). Growing up in Naperville, Ill., a Chicago suburb, Parker initially rebelled against the family passion, until seventh grade, when her height practically demanded that she take up the game. Her father Larry, who played at the University of Iowa in the 1970s, doubled as her A.A.U. coach. "My dad was so hard on me that I didn't think I was good," says Parker. Another older brother, Marcus, 27, knocked not-so-little sister around in late-night games one-on-one. The tough love paid off: Candace is the only person--male or female--to have won the Naismith national High School Player of the Year Award twice.

After sitting out last season with a knee injury, Parker will make her long-awaited college debut next month. She's coming off a "miserable" year; in addition to being sidelined, Parker says, within her first two weeks on campus someone called her by the N word. She gamely brushed aside the slur, but the inaction was unbearable. "[Sitting out] tested my faith a little bit," says Parker, a devout Christian (she keeps copies of 25 Basic Bible Studies and God's Game Plan on the nightstand of her dorm bedroom, which measures 149 sq. ft., not much bigger than LeBron James' Hummer). She poured her emotions into journals: "The taste remains, distinct and bitter," she wrote, "guilt, because I was unable ... to put my team on my back." But she took care of business, hitting the books (she made dean's list) and doing physical therapy, which added 10 lbs. of muscle to her Olive Oyl frame and 2 in. to her leap.

If Parker is about to become a hero to many women, she's happy to embrace the cause. She has plenty to say about what she views as the second-class treatment female athletes receive. A few weeks ago, the Tennessee football team returned to Knoxville at 4 a.m. after a victory over Louisiana State; the players, plus the band and cheerleaders, were excused from class the next day. Parker notes a similar situation last season when, while traveling with the women's basketball team, she got home in the middle of the night but had to be in class by 8. Parker calls the discrepancy "horrible."

The outspoken young woman says female athletes are "more disciplined" than men and disses Elvis in the heart of Tennessee ("He was a copycat"), yet she stays tight-lipped about the victim of her dunk. To his credit, Ryan Childress, a 6-ft. 9-in. freshman, is willing to fess up (yes, Parker slammed on a man 5 in. taller). Childress insists the tale has been exaggerated--"I was in the area," he says, laughing--but four eyewitnesses confirm Parker's account. No need to be ashamed, Ryan. You won't be the last person Parker dominates.