She recalled many conversations she had with him due to the fact that she was dating one of his players at the time. But apparently, she was also friendly with some other Vols players, and Pearl had to tell her to walk a fine line and not make any hasty decisions about the relationship before important games.
“Some stories we can talk about and some stories we can’t talk about, but Candace was a beautiful student athlete at Tennessee,” Pearl said. “She was dating one of my guys and she was talking to two other guys at the same time. …Candace, you remember the times I would come to you and say, ‘Honey, don’t break up with him tonight.’ ok? You remember that. I actually did that and she was like, ‘Okay.’ We had that relationship. “Candace was mature beyond her years.”
Parker was also on the broadcast and laughed when Pearl recalled the stories. He also recalled his close relationship with Pearl during their time at Tennessee, but felt as if he wished he had not disclosed it.
“I was in your office and talking to you and I think the thing I love about the University of Tennessee is the relationships,” she said. “And, you know, the thing that lasted from 2004 to 2008.”
Although Parker would like to leave those aspects of her Tennessee career in the past, her career on the court is certainly worth remembering. He helped lead the Vols to back-to-back national championships in 2007 and 2008, the latter of which he won the National Player of the Year award.
Overall in his career as a Vol, Parker averaged 19.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.9 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. She was later selected No. 1 overall in the 2008 WNBA Draft and won three more championships and two MVPs in her professional career. He recently had his jersey retired by both the Los Angeles Sparks and the Chicago Sky.
She has now gone on to a successful broadcasting career with TNT, where she has contributed to coverage of both college basketball and the NBA. But Pearl’s story takes a comedic look at her personal side when she was a college player.
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