High School Graduate: Parrish Parker

Parrish Parker holds a football with Robert Morris University's head football coach, Bernard Clark Jr.

Source: Parrish Parker (Twitter) @Gifted_VII

Parrish Parker made a name for himself down at West Mifflin High School. Parker was a three sport athlete at West Mifflin as he played football, basketball, and track & field. Parrish was considered one of the best running backs in WPIAL 4A last season. This past WPIAL football season, he rushed for 1,570 yards and scored 25 touchdowns. He even threw a passing touchdown last season.

In Parker's junior year of high school football, he rushed for 884 yards and 11 touchdowns as the starting running back. With the statistical comparison of Parker's junior and senior year, you can see how much he improved from his junior year to his senior year.

Parker will play NCAA Men's Division 1 football at Robert Morris University in the fall. Back in the Summer of 2018, Parker had verbally committed to Howard University; but, then he decided to not attend there. During his four years on West Mifflin's football team, the team had only won one playoff game and made it to the WPIAL football playoffs in all four years that Parker was on the team.

What you might not know about Parker is the fact that he is a WPIAL champion! Back in his junior year of track & field in 2018, he was on West Mifflin's Boys 4x100 meter relay team. When West Mifflin got to Baldwin for the WPIAL Individual Track & Field meet in 2018, their 4x100 meter relay team won first place with a time of 42.40 in WPIAL 3A. So, that meant that Parker won a gold medal. Also, at that same meet, Parker was placed eleventh in WPIAL 3A in the Boys Triple Jump with a mark of 21-04.00.

In Parker's senior year of track & field, West Mifflin was first place in their section and were declared "Section Champions"; but, for some reason West Mifflin decided not to participate in the WPIAL 3A Boys Track & Field playoffs. Parker would find himself in the WPIAL Individual Track & Field meet in 2019 as he would place fifth in the Boys 3A Long Jump with a mark of 22-00.00. West Mifflin's 4x100 relay team this past year was placed fifth in the WPIAL Individual Track & Field meet with a time of 43.38.

Parker also played on West Mifflin's basketball team. He did not play on the varsity basketball team in his freshman year of high school and he has never been on a West Mifflin varsity basketball team that has made the playoffs. So as you can see, West Mifflin's Boys basketball team has not made it to the WPIAL playoffs in the last three years.

Brad Everett, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer, wrote an article on September 13th, 2018 on how football players from Duquesne Township were making a name for themselves on West Mifflin's football team. Everett mentioned that Parker lived in the Duquesne Area.

You see if you are a grade school student that lives in the Duquesne Area, you can attend Duquesne City elementary schools which runs from kindergarten through eighth grade. However, once a grade school student in Duquesne gets into high school, that student can choose if he or she wants to attend East Allegheny High School or West Mifflin High School. Duquesne's High school closed in 2007; so the option for a student living in Duquesne to decide either to attend West Mifflin or East Allegheny started in 2007. So, when Parrish got into high school, he decided to go to West Mifflin instead of East Allegheny.

After I learned the fact about Parker living in Duquesne and not West Mifflin, it made me imagine how would have Parker have done as a student athlete in East Allegheny. In the past four seasons, East Allegheny's football team has had only one football playoff win just like West Mifflin. It must make you think that if Parker played at East Allegheny, could the team have been better in the past four years? Could Parker have made East Allegheny's Boys basketball team and Boys track & field team even better? East Allegheny's school colors are blue and yellow just like West Mifflin. So, no matter what, Parker knew that when he was making his high school decision in 2015 that he was going to wear the colors blue and yellow.

You also have to think that if Parker chose to go to East Allegheny instead of West Mifflin, would he have close friendships with all his high school football, basketball and track & field teammates that live in West Mifflin? It's fun to look back at certain moments that a person makes in their life and it was interesting to think about Parker playing sports for East Allegheny. I would not be surprised if the athletic director of East Allegheny is sitting at home right now thinking, "Man I wished Parker decided to attend our high school rather than West Mifflin".

Parrish Parker takes pride in being from Duquesne. He took his Duquesne pride to West Mifflin and now he is going to take his Duquesne pride to Robert Morris University in the fall.

BY Hilton: bythebossandgoat@gmail.com and Twitter @BYHilton13