Tony Parker (basketball, born 1993)

Tony Parker

Parker in 2014
No. 23 – UCLA Bruins
Position Power forward / Center
League Pac-12 Conference
Personal information
Born (1993-09-18) September 18, 1993
Atlanta, Georgia
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight 260 lb (118 kg)
Career information
High school Miller Grove (Lithonia, Georgia)
College UCLA (2012–present)
Career highlights and awards

Virgil Anthony "Tony" Parker (born September 18, 1993)[1] is an American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins. As a high school player in Georgia, he won four consecutive state championships and was named the top player in the state. He also earned national All-American honors. He joined UCLA in 2012 as part of the top recruiting class in the nation.

Early life

Parker was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Virgil and Hazel Parker. His father played college basketball.[1] Growing up, Parker would tag along with his older brother, Adrian, and watch him play basketball at a local court. When Parker was five, his brother was arrested and went to prison for 15 years for armed robbery. While Adrian was away, Parker helped take care of his brother's son, Jayvion.[2]

By the seventh grade, Parker stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) and weighted 300 pounds (140 kg), and would be mistaken for a lineman. He attended Miller Grove High School in Lithonia, Georgia, and some doubted whether he could play basketball for them.[3][4] However, he led their team to four consecutive state titles (2009–2012), the first time a player in Georgia had started for four straight state champions since Dontonio Wingfield (1990–1993).[1][3][4] With the help of a personal trainer, his strength and conditioning improved each season.[3] As a senior, Parker averaged 16.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game.[4] He was named Mr. Georgia Basketball as the top player in the state, and was recognized nationally as a Parade, McDonald's and Jordan Brand All-American.[1][4][5][6]

As a senior, he was rated a four-star prospect,[7] ranked No. 20 player in the nation by Scout.com, No. 26 by ESPN.com and No. 27 by Rivals.com. He was rated the No. 6 center in the country by Rivals, No. 7 by ESPN and No. 8 by Scout.[1] Parker chose to play college basketball at UCLA over Kansas, Duke, Ohio State, Memphis, and Georgia.[4][8]

College career

Parker joined Shabazz Muhammad, Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams in a UCLA recruiting class considered the best in the nation. The four all knew each other from competing in Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). Muhammad and Anderson were also McDonald's All-Americans.[9] Parker's former AAU coach with the Atlanta Celtics, Korey McCray, had joined UCLA the previous year as an assistant coach;[4] Adams had played for the Celtics too.[9]

Bothered by injuries and lack of conditioning, the 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m), 275-pound (125 kg) Parker did not play much as a freshman in 2012–13, averaging 2.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per game.[7][10] He was the team's only big body with an inside presence after Anthony Stover was dismissed from the team and Joshua Smith transferred mid-season. However, Coach Ben Howland rarely played Parker off the bench, relying instead on 6-foot-10-inch (2.08 m) twins David and Travis Wear, who were primarily jump shooters as opposed to post players.[7][11][12] Parker became so unhappy he considered transferring.[13] He finished the season averaging a Pac-12 Conference-worst 10.4 fouls per 40 minutes,[12] and the Bruins had the worst rebounding margin in the conference.[14]

Parker cutting the net after UCLA won the 2014 Pac-12 Tournament

During the offseason, UCLA replaced Howland with Steve Alford.[10] Parker lost 20–25 pounds (9.1–11.3 kg), and began 2013–14 in better shape than in his first year.[14] On January 23, 2014, he scored a then-career-high 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting in a 91–74 win over Stanford.[15] His averages improved in his sophomore year to 6.9 points and 4.4 rebounds.[16] He finally became a starter in 2014–15,[7] boosting his performance to 11.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.[17] He was the final player remaining from the highly touted 2012 recruiting class—the other three had moved on to the National Basketball Association (NBA).[18] Parker showed improvement on offense with his post moves,[19] becoming the team's primary inside threat.[20] He was also more focused on defense, but was still prone to foul trouble.[19] Alford called him the team's most important player. When Parker missed the road trip to the Oregon schools, UCLA went 0–2 and lost by a combined 29 points. He returned against Utah, when the Bruins earned their best win of the season as Parker's inside play balanced their offense that had become overly dependent on their perimeter players.[21] On March 21, 2015, in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, Parker scored a career-high 28 points and added 12 rebounds in a 92–75 win over UAB, helping the Bruins advance to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.[22]

Parker returned as the Bruins' lone senior in 2015–16.[17] With Kevon Looney having left for the NBA, Parker was moved to forward and Thomas Welsh entered the starting lineup at center.[23][24] Parker was named to the initial watch list of twenty candidates for the Karl Malone Award, given annually to the top power forward in Division I men's basketball.[25][26] In the season opener, he scored 19 points and established career-highs of 19 rebounds, nine offensive rebounds, and four assists in an 84–81 loss to Monmouth.[26] He became the first Bruin to have double-doubles in the first three games of a season since Bill Walton recorded nine consecutive to start 1973–74.[27] After UCLA struggled on defense while starting 3–5 in their conference schedule, Alford believed their big front court was "slow" and had Jonah Bolden start in place of Parker against Washington State.[28] While Bolden was 1 inch (25 mm) taller than Parker, he was also 40 pounds (18 kg) lighter.[29] The switch helped UCLA win 83–50 for their largest margin of victory of the season; Parker scored 11 points in 18 minutes, which was 10 minutes below his average.[30]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tony Parker Biography". UCLABruins.com. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
  2. ↑ Wang, Jack (March 26, 2014). "UCLA’s Tony Parker feeling right at home in Memphis". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Holcomb, Todd (March 23, 2012). "Boys Player of the Year: Tony Parker proves his point". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Halley, Jim (April 25, 2012). "UCLA adds Miller Grove's Tony Parker". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  5. ↑ Ching, David (April 24, 2012). "Tony Parker headed to UCLA Bruins". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  6. ↑ Jordan, Jason (March 23, 2012). "Tony Parker's inner circle". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Wang, Jack (January 13, 2015). "For UCLA to save its season, Tony Parker must blossom". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  8. ↑ Zagoria, Adam (February 27, 2012). "Tony Parker Likely to Announce at McDonald's Game". zagsblog.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  9. 1 2 Holmes, Baxter (December 8, 2012). "Unassuming Bruins guard Jordan Adams is first among equals". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 13, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Medcalf, Myron (October 7, 2013). "Alford: Tony Parker 'in shape,' confident". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  11. ↑ Foster, Chris (January 23, 2013). "UCLA's Tony Parker has big potential". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  12. 1 2 Kartje, Ryan (January 25, 2014). "Same story? Or a new beginning for Tony Parker?". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Despite slow start, UCLA sees big things for banged-up Tony Parker". Sporting News. January 10, 2013. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  14. 1 2 Payne, Terrence (October 7, 2013). "UCLA’s Tony Parker is down 20-25 pounds says Steve Alford". NBCSports.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  15. ↑ Eisenberg, Jeff (January 24, 2014). "Tony Parker’s inspired performance propels UCLA to a rout of Stanford". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  16. ↑ Rothstein, Jon (July 10, 2014). "Ten players who must be productive this summer to help their teams". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  17. 1 2 Wang, Jack (October 15, 2015). "UCLA needs center Tony Parker to help answer big questions". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015.
  18. ↑ Miller, Jeff (March 4, 2015). "Tony Parker must be big man on campus for UCLA basketball". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
  19. 1 2 Kartje, Ryan (March 18, 2015). "UCLA vs. SMU: Who has the edge?". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on March 19, 2015.
  20. ↑ Wang, Jack (March 24, 2015). "Can UCLA’s Tony Parker build on career game as Gonzaga looms?". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015.
  21. ↑ Helfand, Zach (March 18, 2015). "Tony Parker helps Bruins lighten up, but has serious impact on game". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 19, 2015.
  22. ↑ Wang, Jack (March 21, 2015). "UCLA powers past UAB to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on March 21, 2015.
  23. ↑ Kaufmann, Joey (November 12, 2015). "UCLA basketball preview: It's Thomas Welsh's turn to be center of attention". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on November 16, 2015.
  24. ↑ Kaufman, Joey (November 18, 2015). "UCLA basketball: Freshman guard Aaron Holiday proves a quick study". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Twenty Candidates Announced for 2016 Karl Malone Award". National Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. October 13, 2015. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015.
  26. 1 2 "Cal Poly Mustangs (0-1) at UCLA Bruins (0-1)" (PDF). UCLA Athletic Communications. November 13, 2015. Archived from the original on November 16, 2015.
  27. ↑ "UCLA holds on to beat UNLV, 77-75". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. November 23, 2015. Archived from the original on November 24, 2015.
  28. ↑ Shultz, Alex (January 30, 2016). "UCLA's juggled lineup results in big win over Washington State". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016.
  29. ↑ Wang, Jack (January 30, 2016). "UCLA benches Tony Parker against WSU, starts Jonah Bolden". Inside UCLA. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016.
  30. ↑ Wang, Jack (January 30, 2016). "UCLA’s lineup changes lead to 83-50 win over Washington State". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016.

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