Freshman's a presence

Tennessee beat Stanford Sunday for the 10th straight time, but enough about Stanford.

What about Candace Parker?

Answer: No dunks Sunday, but a quietly spectacular game anyway for the Lady Vols' superstar freshman.

The world, at least the portion of it that pays even slight attention to women's basketball, is busy discovering Parker. As soon as the other Lady Vols discover her, they're going to be a very good team. And they're not bad now -- 7-0 record, three of the wins over ranked teams.

Parker, who is creating a Reggie Bush-like buzz in women's college basketball, took only nine shots Sunday, averaging one every four minutes. Nine shots, and she scored 21 points.

The Vols station Parker on a low block and give her an occasional glance, and the odd feed. She is college basketball's most glamorous pick-setter.

The Vols toss her crumbs and walk off the court at the end of the game with a seven-layer cake.

And she's OK with that. I get the impression that Parker, stepping into the lead-dog role in the most glamorous program in the country, is almost trying to live down her rep.

She is The Dunker, even though she has yet to officially dunk.

Parker, a freshman who red-shirted last season with an injury, is listed at 6-foot-3 but is 6-5. She won a slam-dunk competition against boys when she was a high school senior, making her instantly world famous.

Recently in a pickup game, Parker dunked on a 6-9 member of the Tennessee men's basketball team, a fellow who now skulks around campus wearing a Groucho Marx disguise.

Only three women have dunked in a college basketball game, the most recent being Tennessee's Michelle Snow in 2001.

Parker figures to be the next, and when she does, it will be a big deal. But when you're a freshman playing for Pat Summitt, you don't go around crowing about your dunking skills. When asked about dunking, you say you don't think about it.

"I'm really not thinking about it, to be honest with you," Parker said, and she does have an honest face, upon which is attached the most photogenic basketball smile since Magic Johnson's.

While the world is waiting for her dunk, she's busy adjusting to the college game, and the adjustment is going smoothly. Halfway through the first half Sunday, Parker was 3-for-3 from the field and the rest of the Lady Vols were 2-for-10.

In a very tough game on the road, against a strong inside team, Parker wound up with 21 points (9-for-9 free throwing), 12 rebounds, three steals, one huge block, and a freshman-like six turnovers.

Parker's game has been compared to that of Tim "The Big Fundamental" Duncan, and the comparison is apt, although if Duncan had Parker's crossover dribble, ambidexterity in the paint and lateral mobility, he'd average 45 points, not 25.

And not to second-guess Summitt, one of the great basketball coaches of all time, but, uh, will Parker eventually get more touches?

"In tight games" Summitt said in her postgame news conference, "we want the two players sitting up here with me (Parker and senior sharpshooter Shanna Zolman) to get as many touches as they can."

The problem with that as a game-long strategy, Summitt said, is that "the other players quit rebounding and working and playing defense because they're not involved."

The only player on the court Sunday who could match the incandescence of Candace was Candice -- Stanford point guard Candice Wiggins.

These two played together on the 2004 U.S. Junior National Team, went undefeated together, roomed together.

"Candice is a great player," Parker said of Wiggins. "I call her 'Ice.' "

OK, does Wiggins have a nickname for Parker?

" 'Ace,' " Parker said, and realizing she was speaking to sportswriters and not a roomful of "Jeopardy" champions, she added an explanation: "Because her name is spelled with i-c-e, and mine with a-c-e."

With Magic Markers, Parker writes "ABC3" on her sneakers. If she were a guy, it might be a tribute to a teammate who was suspended for choking the coach, or a shout-out to his agent, or a tribute to himself.

With Parker, the A is for herself (Ace) and her uniform number is 3, but the B and C are for the last names of two of the Lady Vols' student managers who helped Candace make it through last season's tough injury-rehab, so she salutes them publicly.

When/if Parker dunks, she won't swing on the rim for 20 seconds, thump her chest to salute her courage, or run to a courtside TV camera and dunk-snarl into the lens.

She'll run back down the court and play defense.

Strange behavior, but somehow charming.