Tony Parker

Virgil Anthony Parker (born September 18, 1993) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins at both center and power forward. He played for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League.

As a high school player in Georgia, Parker won four consecutive state championships and was named the top player in the state. He also earned national All-American honors. Parker joined UCLA in 2012 as part of the top recruiting class in the nation, and helped the school to three NCAA tournaments, including consecutive Sweet 16 appearances in 2014 and 2015. He became a starter in his junior year and finished his four-year college career ranked No. 6 in UCLA history in career games played. After graduating, he played in the G League before playing in Mexico.

Early life Parker was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Virgil and Hazel Parker. His father played college basketball.

By the seventh grade, Parker stood and weighed , 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.

As a senior, he was rated a four-star prospect,

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. Parker's former AAU coach with the Atlanta Celtics, Korey McCray, had joined UCLA the previous year as an assistant coach; 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 twins David and Travis Wear, who were primarily jump shooters as opposed to post players. Parker became so unhappy he considered transferring. He finished the season averaging a Pac-12 Conference-worst 10.4 fouls per 40 minutes, On January 23, 2014, he scored a then-career-high 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting in a 91–74 win over Stanford. His averages improved in his sophomore year to 6.9 points and 4.4 rebounds. He finally became a starter in 2014–15, Parker showed improvement on offense with his post moves, He ranked sixth in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage (54.3). 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. 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.

Parker returned as the Bruins' lone senior in 2015–16, but the team did not advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his career. 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. 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. The Bruins began the season 9–4 with Parker logging seven double-doubles in those 13 games. However, he had just two double-doubles in the final 19 games, when UCLA lost 13 times to finish with a 15–17 record. who was averaging 13.5 points and 9.6 rebounds as a starter. While Bolden was taller than Parker, he was also lighter. 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. After five games as a reserve, Parker returned to the starting lineup in place of Welsh, who had presented the coaches with the idea. The Bruins played their best game in weeks, winning 77–53 over Colorado, He sat out the 2016–17 season with an injury.

In 2017, Parker participated in the NBA G League's annual Player Invitational to earn a spot in the league's upcoming draft. He was drafted in the second round of the 2017 draft with the 27th overall pick by the Iowa Wolves. He played seven games and averaged 3.1 points and 2.6 rebounds before being waived on December 27. He later played in Mexico with Frayles de Guasave of the CIBACOPA for the 2018 season, and joined Aguacateros de Michoacán in the LNBP for 2018–19.

Career statistics College statistics