2008 Female Amateur Athlete of the Year

Candace Parker

As a junior with the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteer basketball team, Parker was nominated for the Female Athlete of the Year and the Collegiate Female Athlete of the Year for the 2007 ESPY Awards. She became the youngest woman ever to earn the State Farm Wade Trophy Player of the Year and the John R. Wooden Player of the Year. Parker garnered the Honda Award for the Basketball Player of the Year, was named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Year and was named a WBCA/Kodak All-American, a John R. Wooden All-American, a first-team Associated Press All-American, and an ESPN.com All-American.


The league's coaches voted Parker the SEC Player of the Year and unanimously named her first-team All-SEC. The Associated Press voted Parker the SEC Player of the Year and named her first-team All-SEC. She was one of four finalists for the Naismith Award.

After leading her team to its seventh national title in April, Parker was named the NCAA Final Four MVP and was named to the All-Final Four Team.

Early in the championship season, against Chattanooga, Parker was the first female player to ever dunk the ball in Thompson-Boling Arena.