Ray Parks bids adieu to NU

We have seen the last of Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. rocking a National University jersey, folks.

And perhaps we have seen the last of Junior in the Philippines, for the time being, as he pursues his NBA dream. Well, if all goes well, Bobby Ray gets to re-discover that form that made him so wanted by that school in Atlanta that has produced Derrick Favors, Chris Bosh, Jarret Jack and Stephon Marbury among others.

To this day, I am perplexed that Bobby Ray chose to play for NU than a legit NCAA Div I school that plays in arguably one of the stronger conferences then, the ACC. NU over Georgia Tech? For a Fil-Am who climbed the rungs in the ultra-competitive US high school basketball landscape ranking in at the top 150 prospects overall?

Who would’ve thought?

Think of it this way: Junior had the chance to contribute right away for G-Tech. Same with NU. At NU, he’s the star. He’s the Mini-LBJ of the Philippines, they said. At G-Tech, he’ll be able to play against the PJ Hairstons, Nolan Smiths, Pierre Jacksons, all those top-tier PGs stateside. He can be the lead guard if he was taught and developed right in the offseason. But nope, he wants to be with pops who had a job here. And we’re not going to knock him for that.

In truth, we wish this former three-star recruit all the best in his hopes to be the first Filipino NBA player. It’s just that, I am a bit skeptical about the whole shenanigan. Sure, Bobby Ray burned the nets. But there was no consistency. No sureness. Heck, he couldn’t even manhandle Kevin Ferrer, who, let’s be truthful about it, will just be shrugged off like a bug by the aforementioned point guards, and we’re not even counting in the Harrison twins of Kentucky and Marcus Smart.

Or maybe he just wasn’t utilized properly and developed the way US coaches do when they want their recruits to make the jump from role player to headliner. No disparage to Eric Altamirano, but using Parks as a receiver on the wing is just about the worst thing as Dwight Howard’s free-throw shooting. Any hoop head will tell you: attacking from the wings have limited options whereas when you have an athletic freak and scorer in BRP receiving the ball up top, down the middle, where he has a lot of attacking angles. From the wings, it’s a chore to dribble it to the middle, or you can get trapped at the baseline if forced to that path. Maybe that’s what stopped him from dropping 30-8-8 every game in his UAAP career. Or the lack of training since hey, you are the top dog, the big shizzle, and you can get away with superstar calls. As Allen Iverson said, “Practice? We talkin’ ‘bout practice?!”

Mind you, a Sports Illustrated article had Bobby Ray and Anthony Davis in one sentence. ANTHONY DAVIS! That lanky, New Orleans Pelicans star who brought John Calipari to the Last Dance and won it all in his freshman year. BRP was ballin’ against those high-caliber folks. Then he goes on to rescind his letter of intent at G-Tech to munch on…Lord Casajeros, Roider Cabrera, Sam Marata, Joshua Webb, etc. We’re not including Ferrer since the kid held his own against a supposed monster. Can you see the difference of the quality of the competition had he stayed? He would’ve been a second rounder at best if he wasn’t able to beast it out, but hey, it beats having to be applying for the D-League instead.

But past is past. On to the next one.

And you better make it Bobby Ray.

Be a hero. Wait, be THE hero.

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