College Football HQ

'College GameDay' Reveals Celebrity Guest Picker for Tennessee-Georgia

Joe Cox|
College GameDay announced a special celebrity guest picker for Week 3's Tennessee/Georgia battle
College GameDay announced a special celebrity guest picker for Week 3's Tennessee/Georgia battle | Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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The cast of College GameDay will be expanded by a celebrity guest picker on Saturday. The guest picker would certainly enhance the team in jump shooting and rebounding, to provide a broad hint. ESPN made the announcement that former Tennessee Lady Vols superstar Candace Parker will get the nod as the CGD guest.

College GameDay has a long history of celebrity guest pickers, often choosing people affiliated with the host school to help hype up the crowd. For instance, Oklahoma saw former Sooner point guard Trae Young fill the role in Week 2's GameDay show. But Parker is some true hoops royalty, and it's safe to guess that her pick will have Knoxville's denizens singing a few extra choruses of "Rocky Top" on Saturday.

Parker's story

Parker hails from St. Louis, but picked the Lady Vols and coach Pat Summit out of high school as a highly-touted recruit. She redshirted a season at UT due to a knee injury, but in her remaining three seasons, was a dominant presence who led Tennessee to a pair of NCAA Tournament titles.

The standout Lady Vol averaged 19.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in her three seasons at Tennessee. She was a two-time NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player and won the Wooden Award as the nation's top player in both her sophomore and junior seasons. The 6'4" Parker was a versatile talent who became the first woman to dunk in NCAA Tournament game.

Parker went pro after her junior season, which is a rarity in women's basketball. She then was a seven-time All-WNBA First Team pick and was the league's MVP in 2008 and 2013. Parker began working as a commentator for TNT sports, analyzing men's college basketball and NBA games over several seasons.

Candace Parker has always been a significant personality off the court. She was one chosen for People's 100 World's Most Beautiful People list. She now holds a role with apparel giant Adidas. Parker has filled many media roles, but celebrity guest picker is presumably a new one.

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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