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Does anyone honestly think this guy is any good.
his junior season he averages only 9.7 and 2.3 assists???
Hopefully hes not making a mistake.
Junior guard says he wants to pursue professional hoops
By Brian Sumers
March 30, 2005
http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/vne.../424a5fe03476a
Point guard T.J. Parker will not return to the Northwestern basketball team for his senior season and plans to begin a professional career, he said Tuesday.
"I got an option I can take, and I just don't feel like coming back and playing college basketball next year," Parker said. "I was just thinking about it for a long time."
Parker said he planned to hire his brother's agent, Marc Fleisher, and explore his options, including playing in the NBA or Europe. Parker said he will withdraw from school this week and move to San Antonio to train.
"He said he's going to go work out for the rest of the year and if no NBA teams are interested, then he'll go back to Europe," junior forward Vedran Vukusic said.
Parker, who completed his third season at NU, said he decided while visiting his older brother, San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, during spring break.
"I told all my teammates," he said. "I talked to all of them. I let them know how I was feeling. I'm not leaving on a bad note. I don't regret what I did at Northwestern."
Fleisher said Parker has not signed a contract with his company. If Parker signs with an agent, he will be ineligible to return to NU.
"I told him the last time I spoke to him to think about it because it is a considerable move," Fleisher said. "I told him about testing the waters professionally and not hiring an agent."
Parker told NU coach Bill Carmody last week, but he said he never broached the subject with his coach or teammates during the season.
"(Carmody) was real surprised," Parker said. "We just had a long talk. He asked me if another year would make a difference, but that's how I feel like doing it now."
A team spokesman said Carmody is on vacation, and he could not be reached for comment.
Parker began telling his teammates last week.
"I was shocked, I didn't know what to say," Vukusic said. "I told him to really think about whatever he's going to do. I was pretty much saying, 'T.J., don't make a decision that you're going to regret later."'
Parker started 29 of 31 games this season, averaging 9.7 points and 2.3 assists in 33 minutes. Against Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, Carmody chose not to start Parker, but played him for 37 minutes in the Wildcats' 58-56 win.
Parker said not starting the game did not influence his decision to leave school.
"It had nothing to do with it at all," he said. "I don't mind coming off the bench."
In three seasons at Northwestern, Parker averaged 10 points and 2.8 assists.
Junior guard Evan Seacat, who played just seven minutes per game this season, might see his playing time increase with Parker's departure. But the two joined NU in Carmody's 2002 recruiting class, and Seacat said he's disappointed his teammate chose to leave.
"When we came in here as freshman, we wanted to make the NCAA tournament," Seacat said. "It's still our goal."
Does anyone honestly think this guy is any good.
his junior season he averages only 9.7 and 2.3 assists???
Hopefully hes not making a mistake.
His dad didn't agree with the decision but Tony did.
By Adam Rittenberg
Daily Herald Sports Writer
Posted Wednesday, March 30, 2005
http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/sp...y.asp?id=26131
In an unexpected move, Northwestern point guard T.J. Parker has decided to forgo his senior season and pursue a career in professional basketball.
Parker, a Lisle High School graduate who started three seasons for the Wildcats, made his decision last week while visiting his older brother Tony, a star guard for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.
T.J. Parker said he plans to hire an agent and will leave school immediately to begin training.
“I got some options right now, and I didn’t feel like coming back and playing college basketball,” Parker said Tuesday. “We’ll see if I can get some workouts with some teams before the NBA draft.
“We’ll see how it goes and see if I have a chance. If not, I’ll go to Europe and play.”
Parker considered the option for several months, but he wasn’t certain until meeting with his brother and his father, Tony Sr., a former Loyola star who played professionally in Europe.
T.J. Parker said his brother endorsed the early departure, while his father advocated playing one more season at Northwestern.
“This is totally T.J.’s decision,” Tony Parker Sr. said. “What can I say? Kids make decisions, they think things over, they’re young adults and they can make choices.
“With T.J. in two months’ time reaching his 21st birthday, I don’t think it’s for me to tell him what to do or what not to do.”
T.J. Parker informed the Northwestern coaching staff of his decision Tuesday. He plans to meet later this week with Wildcats head coach Bill Carmody, who is on vacation.
During the season, Parker gave no indication of his intentions to leave. Carmody benched Parker for Northwestern’s first-round Big Ten tournament game, a move thought to motivate the guard for next season.
“I talked to Coach Carmody and everything, and he told me all kinds of things,” said Parker, who eventually plans to complete his Northwestern degree. “I said, ‘I don’t feel like coming back and playing.’ He understood.
“It’s real hard. I had a great three years. Coach Carmody’s a great guy. I had some real good teammates and real good people here at Northwestern.”
Parker’s teammates were shocked by the news, particularly junior guard Mohamed Hachad.
“Mohamed didn’t believe me at first,” said Parker, who plans to live with his older brother in San Antonio. “He’s like, ‘Nah, you’re coming back.’ I talked to him a lot, told him how I felt. I told all my teammates. They all understand.”
Northwestern didn’t meet expectations in 2004-05, finishing below .500 for the fifth time in six seasons. But many fans had pegged Parker, along with Hachad and star forward Vedran Vukusic, to lead Northwestern to its first NCAA Tournament as seniors in 2005-06.
The Wildcats now must replace Parker, who started 86 games and played more than 3,000 minutes in his career.
“They’ve got a lot of good players and they’ve got great coaches,” Parker said, “so they’ll go on.”
Should've listened to your dad T.J.!
I'm sure the sight of Eva nude sunbathing by the pool didn't have anything to do with his decision to move in with Tony...Parker, a Lisle High School graduate who started three seasons for the Wildcats, made his decision last week while visiting his older brother Tony, a star guard for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.
"Father Knows Best', TJ
One more year in college ball can't hurt, and one year trying to get a pro contract could be waste.
Seriously how tempting is this:I'm sure the sight of Eva nude sunbathing by the pool didn't have anything to do with his decision to move in with Tony...
Your older brother is getting paid millions to play basketball, while dating a gorgeous TV star and getting voted into the most beautiful people list.
And when you ask him wether you can move in the guy says: sure!
Inadvertently Tony is probably not the best role model for his kid brother - unless TJ is as good a player than Tony (but I supposed we would have heard about it then).
"With its first pick in the NBDL draft, the Austin (traffic) Jam selects TJ Parker."
If a guy had these stats on a Top Twenty, NCAA tournament team, he MIGHT be a future prospect, but it's pretty thin. I don't see him getting a Euro contract now if it wasn't for the influence of his brother. Doesn't TP own a French team?
He looked like a mini Tony when I saw him play last year, but I never got a look at him this year.
I don't know, but something tells me the kid has skills. I think we'll hear about TJ later on down the road.
Wildbill2u, funny you should mention TP's team. My first thoughts when I read this article was, he'll probably try out for PBR in Paris.
Very True. How could he not be tempted to drop-out? I agree with his father though. He's getting his school paid for. What's one more year? Does he seriously think, he's gonna luck out and get signed and then start dating a Desperate Housewife? It didn't work that way for Tony...
No way in TJ makes the NBA. timvp played against TJ in 2001 and destroyed him in front of Parker Sr. and Lolo. He's not overly fast and can only go right. In the three games timvp played against him, he blocked TJ over ten times.
So unless he's been on steroids or something the last four years, I'd even be surprised if he made it into a US developmental league.
timvp, on the other hand, is now a horrible basketball player after playing basketball less than a dozen times in the last nine months.
Too bad the kid thinks he should go pro. He has the opportunity for a free education and he's giving it up. Big mistake in my opinion.
^^ So a rematch could be close.
Someone organsise this, could be the vBookie event of the year
timvp, on the other hand, sounds absolutely ready to announce for the draft. He's got his third-person self-references down cold.
I wonder if he will be allowed to use the spurs facility with tony? and will he maybe get to workout with the team?
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