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Tennessee's Candace Parker is widely acknowledged as one of the best collegiate women's basketball players in history, and on Thursday she made history when it was announced that she will forgo her final year of eligibility and declare for the WNBA Draft when the NCAA season concludes in April. The Los Angeles Sparks hold the top pick in the draft and will almost assuredly pick Parker. This move is something of a no-brainer for Parker given her situation, but the WNBA has to hope it will bring some more attention to the league.

The WNBA has never had an early-entry candidate, and, well that's still the case. League rules prohibit teams from drafting anyone that hasn't completed a college degree or exhausted her eligibility. Parker tore her ACL as a freshman and is a senior academically, so she will graduate with her class in the spring. Given that she has accomplished everything there is to accomplish in college, playing another year in college won't do much to help her game.

The only reason this move is without precedent is that going pro early hasn't ever been much of an option for a women's basketball player. Apart from her status as a fourth-year junior, Parker is quite simply light years ahead of every other player in college basketball. When the Lady Vols took on Stanford and Candice Wiggins (arguably the second-best player in the country) earlier this year, there was no question as to who was the best player on the floor. It's not out of the question to think that Parker will be one of the best players in the WNBA from the moment she steps on the floor this summer.

From the league's point of view, this news can only be good. Having watched several WNBA playoff games last year, I can attest to the fact that the league isn't nearly as bad as people usually say. The difference in athleticism and speed between women and men make it a completely different kind of game than what's played in the NBA, but if you don't hold it up to those lofty standards there are lots of positives. Parker brings a fairly big name to the league, and the WNBA has to hope that she entices some curious fans going through summer-induced basketball withdrawal to flip on a game and give it a chance.