A very tall engagement

 While a sophomore at Duke, Atlanta Hawks forward Shelden Williams sat within an arm's length of the woman that would not only become the best female college basketball player in the country, but more importantly, his fiancée - and he could not utter a sound.

"We both wanted to talk to each other but we were afraid to say anything," Williams said. "We both sat at a table for 30 minutes without saying a word to each other." Tennessee basketball All-American Candace Parker, then a senior in high school, was on a recruiting visit. Several years later, however, the couple managed to speak, started dating and got engaged. This was also the time the competition began. Williams is 6-9, Parker 6-4. "I can't remember the last time we played H-O-R-S-E," Williams said. "I also can't remember who won. If you ask her, she might lie. When we play one-on-one, I'll let her win because I have to go home with her. It's a real life version of the movie 'Love & Basketball.'

 " The movie is a romantic film centered on two next-door neighbors who grew up loving basketball and eventually each other. Both characters eventually play professional basketball and get married. "When Candace and I got together, we realized we liked the same movie," Williams said. "It's similar to us because we both love basketball and we both wanted a future in basketball." Williams loves the movie so much that he had a picture of his face and Parker's superimposed on a movie poster featuring the film's star characters. He carries a copy of the photo on his cell phone. "It's my favorite movie," Williams said. "When it came out [in 2000] it was one of the best basketball movies I saw. I loved it ever since."

 Parker, considered one of the best college female basketball players of all-time, is a lock as the No. 1 pick in this year's WNBA Draft. The timing is perfect because Atlanta will have a WNBA team this summer and that will give Parker and Williams a chance to play professionally in the same city. But the Los Angeles Sparks have the top pick and if they were to select Parker . . . that would suit Williams just fine. "Candace will make more money in a larger market like Los Angeles," Williams said. "Most of the money in the WNBA comes from the marketing side, so it works out that she's the No. 1 pick."