Photos

Photos of the greatest players in the history of Stanford women's basketball grace the back page of the team's media guide. There is Jennifer Azzi and Sonja Henning. Val Whiting and Kristin Folkl. Nicole Powell and Kate Starbird. All-Americans, every one of them. And then there is Candice Wiggins.

These women represent the best of the best. All have brought something special and left something memorable in the program's history. Azzi was the first to earn first-team All-American status. Wiggins is the most recent and, perhaps, the best to ever wear the Stanford uniform.

Azzi, who led the Cardinal to its first NCAA championship in 1990 and later helped Team USA win a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics, has seem them all and believes Wiggins deserves special recognition.

"We were talking about that the other day," Azzi told a TV commentator during the recent Pac-10 Tournament, where Wiggins led Stanford to the title and earned Most Outstanding Player honors. "There's no question; hands down she's the best to play at Stanford."

Azzi, of course, was speaking of Wiggins, who is writing her final chapter for the Stanford history book, beginning with Saturday's opening round of the NCAA Tournament Spokane (West) Regional against Cleveland State in Maples Pavilion at 5:30 p.m. The second-seeded Cardinal (30-3) is favored to advance to Monday's second round against either Texas-El Paso or Western Kentucky. It will be Wiggins' final home game.

How far Wiggins will take her teammates is yet unknown. What is known is that Wiggins is perhaps one of the most special players ever to play the game.

Wiggins' ability to shut out the world and give her full attention to the basketball game -- to be in the moment -- makes her unique.

"What sets her apart is the intangibles," Stanford assistant coach Kate Paye said. "She's a great player but what makes her so special is she's a better person and a tremendous teammate."

Paye understands "intangibles" more than most people. She came to Stanford as a walk-on from nearby Menlo School and willed her way to becoming a member of a national championship team and moved on to a career in the WNBA. She's played and coached with, against, and seen up close and personal, the best to ever put on the uniform.

She sees it in Wiggins. Even without putting it into words, Paye sees something special, call it desire, or the need to consume and process as much information as possible, in Wiggins, who was blessed with ability and thrives on hard work.

Intangibles -- Wiggins may not even be aware of those qualities in her character. For her, it's not about numbers or attention; it's about the next opportunity to play basketball, to see just how far she can push her ability.

"She's more than a great scorer, she's a great player," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "She's used to scoring a lot. She likes to shoot and she likes to score. She thinks shot right away but doesn't force shots. She has confidence and doesn't get upset when she misses."

Wiggins became the all-time leading scorer in Pac-10 history this season with 2,478 points, surpassing USC's Lisa Leslie (2,414). On the way to that mark, Wiggins broke the Stanford career mark of 2,215 points held by Kate Starbird.

"It's good to get the record thing out of the way," said Wiggins. "I think that the more that you don't think about your shot, the easier it is. I think the competitive nature and adrenaline outweighs fatigue. I always feel 100 percent, even if I'm not."

Her Stanford legacy long ago assured, the prestige of becoming the most prolific scorer in conference history may be lost to her.

"I depend on my defensive ability," Wiggins said. "You're in the flow of the game and you're taking the shots that they give you and that I've practiced. I can't always control how good my shot is, or how on it is, but I can always control how hard I work, so that's my main emphasis.''

It's more of a gee whiz moment for Wiggins, as if she's thinking 'what's the big deal here?' Wiggins, who seemingly was touched by a unique talent as early as she can remember, just wants to know what she can do now, to see what happens next.

"Records are great but without something substantial; something we can accomplish together, individual records mean nothing," Wiggins said. "Every moment I've had, I cherish it. Nothing would mean more to me (than winning a national championship). I don't know how many points I scored in high school, but what I do remember is winning two state championships. Those are the best memories."

Wiggins embodies the sense of purpose that is something bigger than the self. She checks ego at the door and steps into the framework of team work. The purpose, it seems, is not just to score points, but to win, have fun and keep looking for the next opportunity.

"It's always nice to be recognized but I see the big picture," Wiggins said. "It's awesome to succeed with these people. They are so fun to play with and I still have a lot to learn."

Wiggins' freshman year, as extraordinary as it was, turned into something special; something she could only imagine.

She joined seniors Sebnem Kimyacioglu, T'Nae Thiel and Kelley Suminski, and sophomore Kristen Newlin as starters in her first collegiate game. Krista Rappahahn, Brooke Smith, and Azella Perryman, among others, were on the bench.

Wiggins led Stanford with 24 points in a 63-57 victory over host Utah, setting the tone early in her remarkable career.

"It was an amazing experience," Wiggins said of that first season. "It was so different than what I expected. The seniors were great; they made it easy to join in. It was a fun group."

Wiggins wanted to attend Stanford since watching VanDerveer, on television, coach the U.S. team to the gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

"I was thinking 'Oh my gosh, I'm at Stanford, I'm playing for Tara.' Of course, over the course of the year we talked and worked together, but still I'm in awe of her."

There was the Pac-10 championship game against Arizona State that same year. She had just committed a turnover in the final minute of play and VanDerveer called time to admonish her young guard.

"She had gotten on me a lot and it was no big deal but this time, for some reason, I lost it," Wiggins said. "I was getting overwhelmed and the started tearing up. The seniors grabbed me and told me not to worry."

Out of the timeout, the Sun Devils inbound the ball to Amy Denson, who went up for a layup.

"I blocked her shot," Wiggins said. "I still had tears in my eyes but I got lifted up by my teammates."

Wiggins also grabbed the rebound on the following miss, which allowed Stanford to seal the 56-42 victory.

"Now I'm the senior and people look up to me like I looked up to the seniors when I was a freshman," Wiggins said. "I love that role because it is a two-way street. I still look up to people like (freshman) Kayla (Pedersen). I've made a lot of friends, and I'm in a sorority now, which is a big part of my life. This is my most special year, though I love them all so dearly."

Wiggins is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority at Stanford. Their motto is: "One Mission; One Sisterhood" and their guiding principle is: "Empowering Communities through committed service."

The idea of focusing one's energy on a goal outside of oneself seems to fit Wiggins as easily as all the honors accorded her over the years, which include three Pac-10 Player of the Year awards, and four All-American honors.

"The biggest things to remember are things come with being a freshman," she said. "I tell them to keep that beautiful, youthful energy they have. Sometimes as you get older you tend to lose some of that. I'd like to see them keep that desire and remember what made them successful in high school."

What others say about Wiggins is also telling, and they've said these things since she was still in high school.

"There isn't enough ink in your pens to write down all the good things I can say about Candice," said VanDerveer, whose Olympic team won all 60 games it played in 1996.

"I've not only had great players at Stanford, but great Olympians and I can't say I've ever enjoyed coaching anyone more than Candice," VanDerveer said. "She's a special young lady and, as a coach, you might get someone like this only once in your career if you're lucky. What separates Candice from other players is just her competitive desire. She plays at a hard pace and brings other people with her."

Wiggins played for both the Under-21 national team and the Pan American team, both of which won gold medals last summer. She's also been a part of Team USA in its gold medal performances at the 2004 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, 2005 International Sports Invitational and 2005 FIBA U19 World Championship.

Wiggins hit a 3-pointer with 48 seconds to play to lift the United States' Under-21 team to a 90-88 victory over Australia in the first round of the FIBA Under-21 World Championships in Moscow. Two days later, Wiggins scored 21 points to lead the U.S. to a 93-70 victory over Hungary.

Team USA coach Joanne P. McCallie said: "I tell you, Candice showed tremendous leadership, I was so proud of her. A lot of the things that she did, whether it was on defense or offense, were just fantastic."

She was named USA Basketball's 2007 Female Athlete of the Year.

"I love her and I love her game,'' said Colorado coach Ceal Barry, who coached Wiggins on the U.S. Junior National team, which had a 5-0 record in the World Championship qualifying tournament. "She brought heart and intensity every day, and that's hard to do in July. She's a kid (who) wants to do the right thing for the team."

"She is as prepared to play at the next level as any high school kid could be,'' said Terri Bamford, Wiggins' coach at La Jolla Country Day, which she led to four Division V state championship games. "She is always positive. Nothing is ever somebody else's fault. She stays very humble. She feels like there is always somebody out there working harder than her, somebody that's better than her, and it drives her."

"She brings so much energy to the game. You can tell she loves it," sophomore guard JJ Hones said. "Candice is a humble person. When we're out and people come up to tell her 'you're so good!' she just thanks them. She never gloats and she never talks about it. She is very intense in every drill. She always goes all out. She has confidence and she's inspirational to all of us. Even more, she holds everybody accountable."

"She's talented and all about the team. She's unselfish and she puts in all the hard work, all of the time," Paye said. "She's a tremendous role model to her teammates. Candice Wiggins is ultra-competitive, with a tremendous will to win. Her teammates want to play with her. When it is crunch time, she wants the ball. Her will to win is unsurpassed."