NCAA champion Candace Parker on women's tournament: 'Attention can bring about equality'

Ahead of March Madness, two-time WNBA champion and two-time NCAA champion Candace Parker has a simple message for basketball fans: bring the same energy to conversations surrounding the women's tournament as you do the men's tournament.

As conference tournament games are underway, the time has come to start filling out tournament brackets and, in a study conducted by Edelman Data & Intelligence in Feb. 2022, only 12% of people filled out an NCAA Women's tournament bracket last March. 

In partnership with Degree, Parker hopes to give women's college basketball more visibility by encouraging fans to fill out a women's bracket.

 "I think when you have more people that are filling out women's brackets, there's more attention and conversation," Parker told Paste BN Sports. "I think attention can bring about equality.

"The Degree #BracketGapChallenge is obviously trying to get more people to fill out brackets (plural), not just a (men's) bracket."

Parker who became the first woman to dunk in an NCAA game in 2016 – a game in which she dunked twice – went to the March Madness tournament with the Tennessee Volunteers under Pat Summit.

Parker won back-to-back NCAA championships with the Lady Vols in 2007 and 2008, leading the team both in scoring (20.6ppg) and rebounds (8.8) her final season.

Following an investigation in August of gender disparities among the NCAA's championship events, the governing body decided to use the "March Madness" phrasing and branding this year instead of the "women's basketball tournament." Parker says this is just one of the many things needed to be done to see equality in women's college hoops.

Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, a law firm that specializes in matter of employment and discrimination, including Title IX cases, found that the NCAA "prioritizes men’s basketball, contributing to gender inequity," and that internal support systems contribute to the NCAA "significantly undervaluing women’s basketball as an asset."

To incentivize participation in the #BracketGapChallenge, Degree will select a winner to receive $25,000 for themselves, and a $75,000 donation in their name, to the women’s athletic program of their choice.

“As a longtime advocate of equitable investment, I’ve seen that opportunity is a key driver to equality," Parker said. "And there is no opportunity without visibility."

Contact Analis Bailey at aabailey@usatoday.com or on Twitter @analisbailey.