Ten years later, what has changed?

It's a moment that is indelibly etched in Andy Nussbaum's memory and that of anyone in the gym at Dundee-Crown that day.

It may be what Candace Parker is most remembered for at Naperville Central, and that's saying something.

The dunk.

Ten years ago last week, Dec. 27, 2001, at the Dundee-Crown Charger Classic, Parker made girls basketball history. With 1:04 left in the first quarter against Hononegah she picked up a loose ball near midcourt, and with no opponent near her went in and she threw down a one-handed dunk.

Parker had tried to dunk unsuccessfully at least twice before in a home game. Courtney Peters, a junior on the Naperville Central team, said she had seen her dunk several times in open gym or practice.

"It was amazing. We all knew she could do it," Peters said. "She was a little disappointed that she didn't dunk it as cleanly as she would have liked; her fingers kind of grazed the rim. She was very humble and modest about it. We were all thrilled for her."

Then high school sophomore Parker became the first girl in Illinois basketball history to dunk a basketball and the second girl in the nation.

"The kids on the bench erupted," Nussbaum said, "but I kept my coach face on and one of the seniors said, 'Come on, Nuss, you love it you know you love it!' And I broke out into a smile."

The dunk garnered quite a buzz, even on Chicago sports talk radio.

Naperville Central's attendance doubled. Nussbaum swears that there were 1,200 people at the first home game after the dunk.

"It was her way of bringing attention to the game," Peters said, "and I know her dad encouraged her a lot because of the positive attention it would bring the girls game. I'm not sure if people were coming to see her dunk they weren't holding their breath every time she would break away. But people realized that there was something special going on in their home town, and they came to embrace the team."

Later in the season, in a sectional game at Benet against Glenbard North, Parker dunked again. Current Redhawks senior Emma Donahue, then a second-grader, remembered it well from the stands.

"I remember my dad grabbing me on the arm before she went up," Donahue said. "I was in shock. I remember thinking that girls can do the same things guys can. From then on I definitely wanted to be like her."

A hurt ankle robbed Parker of elevation her junior year, and she was recovering from an ACL tear as a senior. But on March 29 after her senior year, Parker made more history when she beat five boys in the slam dunk contest held prior to the McDonald's All-American game.

Nussbaum laughs that he remembers hearing that ex-Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders, a slam dunk judge, ran around the gym attempting to get Parker's autograph but was turned away by security.

One writer at the time cornered Nussbaum, asking if Parker's dunk signified the dawn of a new era in girls basketball. Would Parker be the first in a new generation of high-flying girls basketball players?

Nussbaum would have none of that speculation.

You're talking about a girl who, Nussbaum was told at eighth-grade orientation, could already dunk a volleyball. That was before her mom corrected him and said that no, Candace can "only" dunk a tennis ball.

"I held at the time we are never going to see something like this again," he said. "I said this is a completely unique deal."

Ten years later, we still wait for the second coming.

Sure, a few women have dunked in college games since then. Baylor's Brittney Griner and ex-Tennessee player Michelle Snow come to mind. The following July after Parker's first dunk, Lisa Leslie became the first woman to dunk in a WNBA game.

But no high school girls have, at least not in Illinois.

You can pull up a 2009 YouTube video of a 14-year-old phenom in Chicago throwing down in open gym. It's even a big deal when a coach suggests that their 6-footer can touch the rim.

But no dunks in an organized game.

Peters, who played AAU with Parker and against girls like Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton and Sylvia Fowles, admitted she thought that girls basketball was headed above the rim.

"It seemed to peak during that time, and now it's kind of leveled off again," Peters said. "I'm not sure why. We kind of thought that Candace was breaking ground and more would follow."

Is the dunk the missing element to the girls game?

There is no question that girls high school basketball does not draw near the fan interest that the boys do. You can say the same thing at the college and professional levels.

Most say the disparity in fan support is because the quality of play is not the same, or the game is not as fast as the boys. But could it be because the girls game is played exclusively below the rim?

For a variety of reasons girls are plain shorter than boys, might not jump as high or have smaller hands you just do not see girls even attempt dunks.

I offer that the three most exciting plays in basketball are the 3-point shot, the blocked shot and the slam dunk. Say what you will about good fundamental basketball, but no play gets the casual fan's blood flowing like the dunk.

Why do you think Michael Jordan sold so many shoes before he even won an NBA title?

"There is such a feeling of authority when you dunk a basketball," Nussbaum said. "There is an aspect of power that appeals to males a little more than females. Females like the beauty of the game more, the finesse. If the girls game had something like (the dunk) it would be more attractive. But short of genetic engineering or lowering the rims I don't think it's going to happen."

Perhaps not, but Nussbaum and Naperville Central will always have "the dunk." Naperville's own little slice of basketball history.

"I maintained at the time, and still do that Candace is one of a kind," Nussbaum said. "There is no such thing as the next Candace Parker."

jwelge@dailyherald.com