The ol’ college try

By Eric Moore

LITTLE ROCK — For the first 13 years of his career, Central Arkansas Christian basketball coach Chris Parker was a college coach.

From his beginnings at Abilene Christian University in Texas, to Jackson State University in Mississippi, Parker has seen great players from throughout the country. As recruiting coordinator, he worked with high school students who wanted to play on the next level, now as a head coach, he works with players who are in it purely for the love of the game.

Parker arrived at CAC four years ago, when most of the athletic programs were just beginning their dominance of everyone in their classification. In the Mustang hierarchy, boys’ basketball was not the powerhouse of the other sports, Parker said.

In the program’s history, the basketball team had advanced to the state tournament just one time, but in his first three years, Parker took them to the postseason.

“The transition was made easier by the players on that team,” Parker said. “They were open to change and hungry to win.”

Parker said he has coached students who have a dream of playing in college, but he enjoys the fact that his kids are out on the court because they love the game. The difference is evident when you take in account that only one player under Parker had a sustained college basketball career.

“It’s two very different levels,” Parker said. “They both have their challenges and rewards.”

Parker decided to make the switch to high school athletics so he and his wife, Brooke (CAC’s softball coach), could be around their three children more often. Despite both coaches being offered head coaching positions at the collegiate ranks, they opted to take positions at CAC, becausethey knew how hard it would be to have to go through recruiting season and be able to spend time with their children.

“We talked about taking some job to get off the road and spend time with the kids,” Parker said.

To outsiders, life may seem difficult for their children, Parker said, but it’s the only life they’ve ever known. “They think everyone lives in gyms and softball fields,” Parker said jokingly.

Any downtime the family has surrounds sporting events. During the summer they will either go to an event a day early or stay an extra day to do sightseeing or learn about the city they are in that week. When there is a basketball tournament, his son films the games, while his wife takes their daughters out for recreation. During a softball tournament, the roles reverse and Parker is the one taking the kids on the town.

Parker is getting to live out his dream by coaching basketball and at the same time spend time with his family. But it could have all been different, had he been a little slower to his first job interview.

After college, Parker sent hisresume to every Division I college in the country. One of those who was impressed by it was University of Mississippi coach Rob Evans, who relayed the information to Jackson State head coach Andy Stoglin.

Stoglin called Parker, who was in Lubbock, Texas, and asked him when he could come in for an interview. Noon the next day was the answer and Parker immediately rented a car and drove nonstop to Jackson, Miss. to make it in time for the interview.

“I was riding on fumes,” Parker said.

When he made it to the meeting point, Stoglin, so impressed that Parker would go through such great lengths for an interview, gave him the job on the spot.

Since that time, Parker considers Stoglin to be his “basketball father,” who took him under his wing and taught him about the game. Most of what he learned from Stoglin, he now relays to his players at CAC.

Although he loves what he does now, there are things that he misses from the college game. Mainly, the relationships built with the players he recruited.

“By the time they were on campus, they were like little brothers,” Parker said.

Another thing is having to adapt to the talent on your team instead of recruiting the talent to fit the coach’s system.

“A high school coach can’t do everything he wants to do,” Parker said. “The better coaches adapt.”

And adapt he has - from a college coach spending a lot of time on the road, to a high school coach who spends more time with his family. In the process, CAC has adapted as well - from a program that could not make it to the postseason to a near-perennial lock to make it there.

For Parker, it goes back to his days in college when he was redshirting on the football team.

“I thought to myself, ‘If I’m going to give this effort every day, it should be for something I love,’” Parker said.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 141 on 07/20/2008