Tennessee is home to one of the greatest players in basketball history. Candace Parker was a multi-time national champion with the Lady Vols and went on to become a WNBA superstar. Out of high school, there was no question that she had the ability to become this level of a star.
Due to this, her recruitment was as big as it gets. Every school in the country wanted a chance to land Parker, and things began to take strange turns. Negative recruiting was rampant, and Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt caught wind of what other programs were saying about her and Tennessee.
To help clear things up, Summitt got creative, like she often tried to do, on a visit to see Parker. She presented her a glass of water and dropped Alka-Seltzer in it to make it cloudy. Then, she dropped in an orange slice to clear it all up, representing how Tennessee could provide clarity.
This story was shared by ESPN reporter Holly Rowe before a reunion held by Omaha Productions in Knoxville in memory of Summitt. Former player and assistant coach Nikki Fargas also shared how they brought a small puzzle for Parker to put together. The catch was that they pretended there was one missing piece. As Parker looked for it, Summitt slammed it on the table and said, ‘You’re the missing piece.’
More From RTI: WATCH: Lady Vols Basketball Legend Candace Parker, More Tell Pat Summitt Stories Ahead of Reunion
While these quirky ideas can play a role, it isn’t enough to land a budding superstar like Parker. There is much more that needs to be pitched to get her to commit, which she ultimately did on ESPNEWS, marking the first woman to do so live on the network.
To Parker, it was beyond basketball. She obviously knew the pedigree that Summitt and the Lady Vols had, but she wanted to learn from someone who was already living out a lot of the goals Parker had for herself.
“First, there’s a lot of coaches where I feel like basketball is important. Yes, basketball is really important here. And I’m not gonna lie, I came to play on one of the biggest stages of college in front of a packed house, and you’re like The Beatles on the road. That had its part,” Parker said before the reunion. “But Coach Summitt, just in terms of being able to see someone that I wanted to be like. I always wanted to be a mom. I always wanted to be in a leadership position, to have somebody that gave me a front row seat to what that looks like. How you have to handle yourself, how you have to conduct business and how you view yourself.
“And it’s not a bad thing to believe in yourself and have confidence. And at that time, I think a lot of young ladies were told to shrink themselves, and Coach Summitt was like, no, you double down, and you believe that you can do it. So that’s why I came to Tennessee was to be a part of a family and have a legacy not die after four years. To be a part of my life forever.”
For more interviews with Parker, Rowe, Fargas and Andraya Carter, click here. The quartet met with the media before joining South Carolina head coach and Virginia legend Dawn Staley on the stage at the Tennessee Theatre to relive some of the best moments of Summitt’s life and tenure as UT’s head coach.
