Basketball superstar and two-time Honda Sports Award winner (2007, 2008) Candace Parker of the University of Tennessee has been awarded the 32nd annual Honda-Broderick Cup, designating her as the 2008 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. The announcement was made today by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program in the Low Library at Columbia University in New York City. The prestigious award recognizes not only outstanding athletic achievement but team contributions, scholastics and community involvement as well.
Parker was selected as winner of the Honda-Broderick Cup by a voting of nearly 1,000 NCAA member schools. The 6'4" forward is the second basketball player from the University of Tennessee to win the Honda-Broderick Cup, after Chamique Holdsclaw, who won the award in 1998. Last year's winner was volleyball star Sarah Pavan of the University of Nebraska. Previous winners include track and field legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1985), soccer great Mia Hamm (1994) and swimming star Tara Kirk (2004).
Noted Parker: "I am honored to be chosen as the Honda-Broderick Cup winner this year from such an outstanding group of female student-athletes. I have been blessed to be recognized as an individual but know that I couldn't have gotten where I am today without the help of my family, friends, teammates and coaches. My experience at the University of Tennessee prepared me for life as a professional basketball player and as a strong, independent woman. Coach Summitt always says if you surround yourself with great people and players, you are destined for great things. Winning this award and two national championships at Tennessee are, to me, great things. I want to thank Honda for its continued support of the award and women's athletics throughout the years."
Parker was among five finalists for the Honda-Broderick Cup. This year's other included:Amanda Blumenherst, Duke University (golf); Rachel Dawson, University of North Carolina (field hockey); Jacquelyn Johnson, Arizona State University (track and field); and Angela Tincher, Virginia Tech (softball).
Parker to Play With U.S. Olympic Team in Beijing
Parker was recently named to the U.S. Olympic team set to compete in Beijing this summer. She was the #1 WNBA draft pick this year and has been playing for the Los Angeles Sparks. In her final year at UT, she led the Lady Vols to their second consecutive NCAA Championship and was recognized for the second time as Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four, only the fourth player ever to do so. A three-time All American, she was also named Player of the Year by AP and ESPN.com. Her 40 blocks in 16 career NCAA tournament games is the second best record of all-time. She also ran a streak of 44 games of double-digit scoring and broke her own school record for single-season free throws made (194) and attempted (277).
A native of Naperville, Ill., Parker came to the University of Tennessee as perhaps the most decorated high school basketball player in history and only the second Lady Vol hailing from the state of Illinois. She finished her career at Rocky Top as the all-time leader in blocked shots, free throws made and free throws attempted. She also became just the fourth 2,000-point scorer in school history. Among her many honors, she was chosen this year as a unanimous All-SEC first-team selection by the media and for the third time a unanimous All-SEC first team choice of the league coaches.
Academic Star As Well
While at UT, Candace excelled in academics as well as athletics. A sports management major, she was named the Academic All American this year in the University division, and was also selected by ESPN the Magazine as a first-team Academic All-American and the 2008 Basketball Academic All-American of the Year - the first Lady Vol to do so since Jill Rankin in 1980. She is also only the second Tennessean to earn Academic All-America citations in consecutive years. In addition to her athletic and academic achievements, Candace also found time while in school to work with community service organizations such as D.A.R.E, Loaves & Fishes and the Ronald McDonald House.
Individual Honda Sports Award winners, in each of the 12 sports in addition to the final five included: Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego for cross-country, Georgia Tech's Amanda McDowell for tennis, Texas A&M University's Ashlee Pistorius for soccer, Stanford University's Foluke Akinradewo for volleyball, University of Florida's Caroline Burckle for swimming & diving, the University of Georgia's Katie Heenan for gymnastics and Northwestern University's Hannah Nielsen for lacrosse.
Other Honors Presented
In addition to the annual Honda-Broderick Cup, the Collegiate Women's Sports Awards Program also presents its Honda Inspiration Award each year to a deserving collegiate female athlete. This year's recipient was Patience Knight, an NCAA Division I softball player at Texas Tech. In February 2007, Knight was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor 8.6 cm in diameter near her heart. Immediately after her biopsy and throughout her painful struggle with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, she courageously continued to train and compete with her team, ultimately setting a school record of 56 feet, 8'' in the shot put at this year's NCAA Indoor Championship meet. She is now cancer-free and carries a 3.9 GPA.
At the Columbia University ceremony, the program also honored its annual "Athletes of the Year" from both NCAA Division II and Division III colleges. They are Division II, University of Minnesota Duluth volleyball star Vicky Braegelmann, and Division III, Willamette University's cross country standout Sarah Zerzan.
Additionally, the Irv Grossman Award of Merit was presented to the Women's Sports Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 1974 by tennis legend Billie Jean King. Karen Durkin, Chief Executive Officer of the Women's Sports Foundation, accepted the award, which recognizes unique achievement as it contributes to public awareness and appreciation of women's collegiate athletics and elevates the status of women's collegiate sports on a national level.
The "Collegiate Women Sports Awards sponsored by Honda" will air nationally on CBS College Sports Network for the third consecutive year on Sunday, June 29 (7:00 PM, ET). Hosted by CBS College Sports Network's Greg Amsinger, the telecast includes the presentation of the Honda-Broderick Cup, among other awards, and features interviews with this year's winners.
American Honda Motor Co., Inc. sponsors the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program.
For additional information, photos or broadcast quality video please visit www.hondanews.com.
