Editor’s note: Candice Wiggins was a four-time All-American guard on the Stanford women’s basketball team, one of only seven players in NCAA history to accomplish the feat. A three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year, she finished her career with 2,629 points, breaking the school and Pac-10 record. Wiggins, who played from 2004 to 2008, led the Cardinal to the Women’s Final Four as a senior, scoring a career-best 44 points against UTEP and 41 the following game against Pittsburgh, becoming the first woman to tally 40 points in two NCAA games. Wiggins averaged 19.2 points during her Stanford career and also established school marks for 3-pointers made (295), free throws made (556) and steals (281). Charismatic and seemingly always smiling, she was awarded the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award and won the Wade Trophy, presented to the top women’s basketball player in NCAA Division 1. Wiggins graduated with a degree in communication and was the third overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx. She now plays for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and the Besiktas Cola Turka Istanbul women’s team in Turkey.
By Candice Wiggins ’08
Southern California raised me, but Northern California trained me. Now that I’ve lived across the United States and all over the world, I am back home again living in the best state in the country: California. Playing last season for the Los Angeles Sparks came with so many wonderful revelations, but one of my favorites was being able to finally play side by side with my Stanford sister, Nneka Ogwumike ’12. Playing with Nneka allowed me to understand the positive impact that our wonderful university has made on both of us, and what specifically comes to mind is the influence of the exceptional Buck/Cardinal Club.
Nneka and I share the same spirit of Stanford because we were both raised under the Tara VanDerveer ideology, which all comes down to character above everything else. I can say throughout my entire seven-year career in the WNBA and overseas, Nneka is by far my favorite teammate, and it is no surprise.
I can recall two moments last season with the LA Sparks that can summarize the type of spirit that one possesses after leaving the Farm:
One moment occurred when we were playing the Indiana Fever at home. I had been suffering from a very long cold streak, but had been working hard on knocking down a shot for my team. Nneka was drawing two and sometimes three players every time she caught the ball on the low block, and she was still scoring! I noticed that my player specifically was leaving me completely and hounding Nneka. Using my Stanford communication skills I told Nneka that if she needed me I would be there for her and I would knock down the shot, but I also told her I trusted her instincts. In the noisy, crowded Staples Center, she gave me solid eye contact and knew exactly what I was thinking. The next play down on offense Nneka had the ball on the block, quickly saw that my player was on her and kicked it out to me for the three, which I knocked down (as I promised her). We ended up winning the game, and that play definitely changed the way the other team could strategically play against us.
Another glorious moment occurred when we were playing against the Connecticut Sun, who were young, determined, and fueled by the one and only Chiney Ogwumike ’14. This was a crucial game, as our playoff lives depended on it. We were down big with little time left in the game and needed something incredible to happen. On the defensive inbound, Nneka miraculously intercepted a pass intended for her sister, but was falling out of bounds. Immediately I got into Nneka’s view and screamed out to her to pass it to me before she fell. Without thinking twice, she quickly passed it to me. I swiftly scanned the floor to find our Kristi Toliver, arguably one of the greatest shooters of our generation. Kristi took a couple of dribbles and then hit the game-winning three. It wasn’t Maples Magic, but it was Staples Magic! It felt so great for our team to connect the dots in the most important moment of the regular season.
This is what I call Stanford synchronicity. Most of all, it is reliability, which is an attribute that stretches across all boundaries, on and off the court.
That same reliability can be traced back to the Buck/Cardinal Club. Assists are the best because in this pure act of selflessness you have the control and influence to empower someone else. This is exactly what the Buck/Cardinal Club does for the many diverse student-athletes at this prestigious university. From travel and hotels to equipment and tutors, they make sure that our minds and lives stay on the right track to success.
I thank the Buck/Cardinal Club for assisting Nneka and me. At Stanford we were able to hone the skills necessary in order to convert Maples Magic into Staples Magic. The Buck/Cardinal Club has done so much more to enrich our lives as young women going into the unknown world of opportunity. It’s the transition that nobody sees, but we as athletes feel, even if it is imperceptible to anyone but us.