AT&T spot<\/a>, she can be seen in Tennessee gear tossing popcorn to try to distract an opposing team\u2019s free throw shooter.<\/p>\nWhile the Lady Vols didn\u2019t make the Final Four, Candace is still dialed in to the action. Here\u2019s what she shared about coming back to the tournament in a different role, plus how she uses her own college basketball experience in her life today.<\/p>\n
What She Loves About the NCAA Tournament<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cMarch Madness is literally the best time of the year. I remember as a player, just the excitement. Any time in March, obviously, you want to be the one playing in April.<\/p>\n
Being part of it from a player standpoint and now as a broadcaster, and seeing the overall excitement of [how] you don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know. I just love enjoying it as an analyst and fan.\u201d<\/p>\n
On March Madness Nostalgia<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cIt brings back [memories of] wanting something, preparing for something. You start workouts a year in advance. The memories it brings back are just how hard you had to work and how slim the margin of error there is in basketball.<\/p>\n
You never forget the moment when you decided to get up when everybody was tired, or the bad road trip, or the [team] dinners\u2026things like that. I really reflect on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIn college, every play really matters.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n
On Learning to Keep Her Cool Under Pressure<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cThe biggest thing I learned from [March Madness] is the butterflies you get when you know you\u2019re not ready for the test, but the confidence you have when you know you studied. You\u2019re leaning on your preparation.<\/p>\n
Obviously, everybody wants to win. But have you prepared for it? Those are the times when I feel the most at ease. The thing about college that\u2019s different from the pros is in the pros, you have another shot at it. In the WNBA, it\u2019s a \u2018best of\u2019 series. In college, every play really matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Best Tournament Advice She Got from Coach Pat Summitt<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cShe would always emphasize rebounding, because it\u2019s one thing you can control. In difficult scenarios, you try to control the things you can control and not worry about the things you can\u2019t control.<\/p>\n
A lot of times, it was my rebounding. That applies in life as well\u2014rebounding, bouncing back, and your work ethic.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Life Lessons Learned from Basketball<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cFor me, it\u2019s about understanding that it is a process, that you have to do a lot of listening. Don\u2019t cannonball in when it\u2019s something new. You\u2019ve got to kind of get in, understand, listen, figure out who your mentors are. That\u2019s how I\u2019ve approached broadcasting and business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why She\u2019s More Nervous as a Fan<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cI feel more calm when I\u2019m playing and when you have the ability to control the outcome. Obviously, Tennessee got blown out, so there were no nerves in that game. But, as a fan, I realize that not having control is one of the most difficult things.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a fanatic. I\u2019m unreasonable. But I cheer hard and I understand the loyalty of it. It\u2019s harder to be a fan, to be honest. Regardless of how you’re a part of [March Madness], it’s a special time.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Headshot](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ea27d1a6-ecd9-4da8-b2a7-049a03b4ab93_1528214135.file.png\" "\\"Headshot")
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Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men\u2019s Health, Women\u2019s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master\u2019s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"3 min read Candace Parker is considered one of the greatest WNBA players of all time. But she…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":704943,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[264745,3178,294124,1201,2875,256927,294123,62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-704942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-collection-sports-athletes","9":"tag-content-type-news","10":"tag-contentid-dfcc0193-594d-409d-91c9-6b99d19a4692","11":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","12":"tag-locale-us","13":"tag-read_time-3","14":"tag-shorttitle-candace-parker-shares-her-march-madness-mindset","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116348136343665870","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704942\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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3 min read<\/p>\n