All five starters drafted:

Candace Parker had a whirlwind 24 hours. Parker was selected No. 1 by the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA draft on Wednesday, a day after capping her college career by leading Tennessee to a second straight NCAA title.

[..]

All five Tennessee starters got drafted. Shannon Bobbitt and Nicky Anosike were the first two picks of the second round, with Bobbitt joining Parker in Los Angeles and Anosike heading to Minnesota. Alberta Auguste was drafted in the third round by New York.

Congratulations, again, to the Lady Vols basketball program.

UPDATE: WBIR shows us the money.

What can you say, except congratulations!

Summitt Is First to Win 100 Tourney Games

The [78-52 win over Perdue] not only sent top-seeded Tennessee to its annual regional semifinal appearance, but also made Summitt the first coach in Division I basketball history — men's or women's — to record 100 wins in the tournament.

WVLT: Candace Parker named Academic All-American: "This is such an honor," Parker said. "An athletic career could end at a moment’s notice, but a solid education will last a lifetime."

Tennessee's Parker to Skip Senior Year

By skipping her final year of eligibility, Parker has the chance to enter the WNBA draft in April. She would likely go as the top pick.

UPDATE: Yesterday's news.

Candace Parker benched for first half of hometown game for missing curfew.

A lucky UT student who attends at least ten of fourteen Lady Vols home basketball games will win one year's free tuition, courtesy of the Lady Vols. Second prize ain't too shabby, either. Read all about it here.

It was brought to my attention that the seats at the Thompson Boling Arena were changed from Big Orange to black during the recent renovation.

Have they no respect? How can this be?

It appears that with so many orange wearing fans, empty seats are now more visible. What was the point of changing to black? Are they trying to distance themselve from Big Orange Country? Or, was the black material cheaper?

When asked if she was staying on at UT after last night's championship win, Candace Parker said "Why wouldn't I?". Most everyone is reading that with relief this morning, taking it to mean she's staying.

But she didn't really say she was staying, did she? She answered with a rhetorical question: Why wouldn't I?

Apparently Parker has until 10 AM this morning, a little over one hour from now as I type this, to decide. Maybe she's waiting for an answer to her rhetorical question.

She could go to the WNBA, which wouldn't pay much but endorsements could be lucrative. Or, according to ESPN sportscasters last night, she could go to Europe and earn more than $1 million in salary and endorsements. Or maybe both.

She also said "This is where I want to be." I recall the Orlando Magic's Shaquille O'Neal saying the same thing days before he engineered a trade to the Lakers.

I'm no expert on all this, but the tall, smart, talented, and attractive lady hasn't sung yet, until as of 10 AM today. Hopefully she will decide to stay on and go for a repeat in 2008.

UPDATE: Phoenix first draft pick: Lindsey Harding. Candace Parker is not in the lineup. No word from the Russian draft...

UPDATE: Sidney Spencer goes to the Los Angeles Sparks late in the 2nd Round at 25.

I don't know how many of you all watched the UNC-UT women's basketball game but it was a real barnburner. The first half was downright brutal, with Ivory Latta of UNC and Candace Parker getting into early foul trouble. The defense on both sides was stifling, but UNC missed a lot of easy chances to pull away early. In the second half, UNC did, in fact, pull away and built up a 12 point lead. But just as the UNC men did, the Tar Heel women simply collapsed with 8 minutes left. Foul trouble hurt, as two players fouled out (though Latta stayed out of further foul trouble until the very end). I think UNC just ran out of gas. As for the Lady Vols, I was really impressed with Nicky Anosike and Shannon Bobbitt, who kept the team composed even when they fell behind big. The Lady Vols won without the usual help from Candace Parker, who missed the first half because of foul trouble and didn't contribute a whole lot from the floor in the second half either.

Rutgers pulled off a stunner over LSU and it's hard to imagine them taking out the Lady Vols in the final. In many ways the Lady Vols had a charmed tournament schedule with Ole Miss and Marist taking out potentially tougher opponents. UNC was the only really tough opponent the Lady Vols had to face.

I'm a lukewarm women's basketball fan to be honest. I love watching two great teams, like UT, UNC, LSU or UConn. But when you get to non-elite teams the game can be downright painful to watch. That said, there's a lot more talent spread throughout Division I now so you don't get as many embarrassing missed layoffs and botched passes as in the past. I'm not sure if this is because of the WNBA, Title IX, ESPN or what but this women's hoops tournament has been a real joy to watch - much more so than the men's tournament this year. Go Lady Vols!