The First Round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament for the men will tip-off on Thursday afternoon after the First Four games have now concluded and the field of 64 teams are set. Not far behind them will be the 2016 NCAA Women’s Tournament that will tip-off on Friday. In both cases, though, the 64 teams in each bracket will be competing for that ultimate prize in college basketball, to hoist the trophy and cut down the nets after winning a national championship.
Over her college career with the Tennessee Volunteers, that was an experience that Candace Parker enjoyed twice—the first in 2007 and the second the following year in 2008. She’s experienced the NCAA Tournament in a way that most fans have only dreamed of.
Parker now owns the hardwood for the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA where she’s a two-time MVP and won Rookie of the Year honors to go with her first MVP back in 2008. Moreover, she also works as a commentator for ESPN during the WNBA offseason covering women’s college basketball. But her legacy in college hoops will always have fans remember her cutting down the nets decked in the orange of the Volunteers.
With both the men’s and women’s tournaments all set to tip-off, we talked with Parker about her experiences at Tennessee, her thoughts on this years’ tournaments, and everything in-between.
Cody Williams: Before we get too deep into talking about the tournaments coming up, you’re obviously doing fantastic work with the Capital One Cup right now and all of the great things that they’re doing with college athletics. As a past NCAA Tournament champion and with the time that you spent at Tennessee, what would earning those 60 Capital One Cup point towards the Volunteers athletic program have meant when you were at Tennessee and what do you think it would mean to the athletes competing today.
Candace Parker: I think I was ultra-competitive in school, so any type of incentive to win a national championship was added motivation. If you would have had that kind of thing when I was there, it would have been a lot of fun—to have a positive rivalry with people at other universities and a number of your peers. And it also can be basically a sense of unity within your organization and your school to try to win. It motivates you. What Capital One is doing is basically the number one athletic program from men’s and women’s is awarded a combined $400,000 and most of the sports receive 60 points for winning a national championship. We won two when I was there, so we basically helped our athletic program to hopefully be up there and competing as one of the top programs in the college athletics department.
CW: Let’s get into the tournament, then. Starting with your Lady Vols, they’re a No. 7 seed in the tournament, which is their lowest in the history of the tournament. And they’re matched up [in the first round] with the Green Bay Phoenix, who only had four losses on the year. How do you think your Lady Vols are going to fare in that matchup and, if they move forward, what do you think their chances are?
CP: You know, I think you have to start this season as you started—as if it was successful. When we’re successful and we play a great year, we say, ‘Okay, this is a new year and tournament time is a new season. Everybody’s record is 0-0 and anything can happen.’ So you kind of have to approach it that way this time around, as well. You didn’t have the season that you wanted to, but going forward, everything is evened up now. You win one game and you advance. And so, I think that’s the mentality that they have to have. Don’t look past anybody. I think that they’re capable—they’ve shown glimpses throughout the year of what they’re capable of and it would be really fun for me, as a spectator, to see them realize what they’re capable of and to play to the best of their ability.
CW: Right. And it’s a little bit of a different situation in Tennessee right now because, obviously, you played under Pat Summitt and now Holly Warlick is at the helm for the Lady Vols. What going forward do you think that she can do to establish the level of consistency that you guys had when you were in the program?
CP: You go through ups and downs. You know, there was a drought when I was coming in in ’07—Tennessee had not won since ’98, that was the last time they won the championship. So I mean you go through ups and downs and droughts and times when you’ve got to figure it out. You’ve got to change things and evaluate your program and things like that. I think Holly is doing a great job in terms of winning. She’s won the SEC Championship her first year as head coach at Tennessee. And going forward, she’ll start bringing in recruiting classes and things like that. So, I think that just as a program you’ve got to stay the course. You can never get too high or too low. You have to stay confident. She knows what it is like to win—she’s been under Coach Summitt for such a long time, so she knows what it takes to win.
CW: You’re obviously going to be watching Tennessee as your alma mater, but what other teams and first-round matchups do you really have your eye on in the women’s tournament?
CP: Tennessee, obviously, I’m going to be watching them. I’m actually commentating in Los Angeles, so my first game commentating is going to be covering UCLA and Hawaii and I’m going to be covering USF and Colorado State. So obviously those are going to kind of be on my radar—I’ve got to do my homework on them a little bit. But obviously UConn, you’ve got to watch them. South Carolina, I’m very loyal to my in-conference foes. You always root for SEC teams to do well, because I think it strengthens your conference.
CW: Going more towards the individual, which players—specifically seniors—in the NCAA Women’s Tournament do you have your eye on as top prospects for the upcoming WNBA Draft? What players do you think can make an impact at the next level?
CP: Well Breanna Stewart’s on everybody’s radar. You know, she’s the consensus No. 1 pick. She’ll be in Seattle next year and, obviously, we play them in the first game of the WNBA season in May, so I’m going to have my eye on her, watching her and what she does at Connecticut. You have different players… in terms of seniors, across the board Connecticut. You have Moriah [Jefferson], Breanna Stewart. You have Morgan Tuck. And, you know, at South Carolina you have Tiffany Mitchell—she’s had an amazing season and she’s a player that will definitely be a top draft pick.
CW: Let’s switch gears a little bit and go over to the men’s side of things. Do you have your eyes on any of the first-round matchups or any particular teams that just stand out as kind of intriguing teams to you in that tournament?
CP: At the beginning of the year, I was fortunate enough to go to the United Center and I saw Michigan State play. And I saw, let’s see, it was Michigan State, Duke was there, Kansas was there, and I forget the fourth team. But I was fortunate to see [Denzel] Valentine play in person—it was actually Kentucky, too, I don’t know how I forgot Kentucky.
CW: [Laugh]
CP: I don’t like to remember them because, you know, they’re an SEC rival, so it was probably on purpose that I forgot them. But Valentine, I’m a big fan of him. He’s an outstanding player, he’s exciting to watch, he does everything. And so I’m a huge Michigan State, like, fan this year.
CW: Leapfrogging off of that, what do you think about Michigan State winning the Big Ten Tournament, then not getting a No. 1 seed? Do you think they deserved the No. 1 seed or do you think the committee got it right putting them in at a No. 2?
CP: Well, they had a couple of bad losses this year, so it hurt them. I think they lost twice to Iowa—not that that’s a bad loss—but, you know. They had a couple…I mean, at the beginning of the year when they were ranked No. 1 for a time being, I was like, ‘they’re for sure going to get a No. 1 seed.’ You know, No. 1, No. 2—really, what’s the difference? You still have to go through six teams. And I think they were [top] No. 2 seed, so it possibly ends up working out better for them. But Michigan State, I have them winning one of my brackets and I think they’re going to go as far as Valentine carries them.
CW: Are there any other players in the tournament, besides Valentine because obviously people are going to be watching Valentine. There’s so much talent in both brackets, but in the men’s bracket, you have players like your Kris Dunns, and your Jaylen Browns out of Cal. Are there any other ones that you’re particularly watching besides Valentine?
CP: Well I hate to admit this because I’m such not a Kentucky fan, but I like [Tyler] Ulis. I love what he does. I love how he controls the game. I love how he controls the tempo—he never goes too fast, too slow—the game goes at his speed. What he’s able to do at his size, it’s fun to watch.
CW: Just talking to you right now, you’ve mentioned Ulis, you mentioned Valentine. As a post player, do you tend to find yourself watching guards and admiring what they do a little more? Or is it just whoever catches your eye?
CP: I think I watch the overall game. You know, I watched Ben Simmons all year. I appreciate what he does and things like that. But I kind of want the versatility; I like to add different things to my game and so this year just happened to be Valentine and Ulis that have caught my eye. But in years past, with different post players coming out, you have to respect and appreciate what other players are doing.
CW: You said you had Michigan State winning in one of your brackets, are they your pick to win it all, if you had to pick one team right now, would they be your pick?
CP: Yeah, Michigan State right now. Now, I don’t have to turn in my until Wednesday for everything, so there might be some adjustments to it, but at the moment Michigan State is going to win it all for me.
CW: And how about in the women’s tournament; do you have UConn finishing another season without a loss or do you have someone like Baylor, South Carolina, Notre Dame, or even someone else knocking them off?
CP: I am loyal to a fault and sometimes that’s a problem. I always go with Tennessee winning, every year. It really hurt the first year, though, because they were out in the first round. But it’s been fine every other year—last year they got to the Elite Eight—so it wasn’t too bad. But every year I go with Tennessee winning. Honestly, our bracket, playing South Carolina to go to the Final Four—I mean, that’s what it’s made of right there. We could play South Carolina tough for 35 minutes, so I don’t count us out. I worry more so about the early rounds. I think they get up for the big games, but yeah; I’m loyal
CW: I can’t blame you; I’m the same way. Just to close things out, I know and most people know what a fan’s perspective of the NCAA Tournament—men’s and women’s—what that feels like and what memories fans take away from that. But as a former [college] athlete who competed at Tennessee for your entire time there, what’s your favorite memory that you took away from your title at Tennessee.
CP: I think it’s just the build-up. Like you go there, there’s practice and there’s like a different attitude and air. You feel lucky, because you know that not everyone gets to experience what you’re experiencing. You have the press conference, the practice where your fans come out to support you and, you know, you’re getting ready and preparing for the game. Obviously we were fortunate enough that the two times that we went to the Final Four, we won. And holding the trophy; that was something that—cutting down the nets! I remember bringing my nephews on the court and that’s something that my nephew still talks about to this day. He was three at the time. So, I think just being able to celebrate with your teammates—that’s something that you remember.
Candace Parker is touring on behalf of the Capital One Cup, the prestigious award which recognizes the best men’s and women’s Division I athletic program in the country, giving a combined $400,000 in student-athlete scholarships. Candace’s alma mater, the Lady Vols athletic department, has two top-20 overall finishes in the award’s five-year history. The winner of this year’s women’s NCAA college basketball title will earn 60 points toward the Capital One Cup. For more information on the Capital One Cup, or to keep up with where each school stands, visit www.capitalonecup.com.