It is now or never for senior Mike Parks. The Cleveland native is focused on doing whatever is necessary to help lead the Memphis Tigers basketball team to the NCAA Tournament.
Parks saw the firing of Tubby Smith and the hiring of Penny Hardaway as an opportunity to polish his skills and become a dominant player. He said he is going into this season with a chip on his shoulder.
“You just have to go hard,” Parks said. “This is your last year in college. You are not going to get it back unless something crazy happens, God forbid. But, just going hard for yourself and your team just to show what you actually got.”
Parks said to play at a high-level, he had to get into better shape. He took it upon himself to lose almost 15 pounds during the offseason.
“I’m able to run the floor, and it’s really my weight,” Parks said. “Now I’m able to do more things: shoot the ball, jump higher and be more athletic.”
Parks went into the offseason weighing more than 260 pounds. After dieting and working out, he slimmed down to 247 pounds. He said being lighter has given him more agility. In the end, he said his main objective is to help his team get to the next level.
“Just thinking about being a senior and what I have to do for my team. I just have to do everything coach asks me to do, whether that’s running the floor, rebounding, setting a screen, then I have to do that for the team,” Parks said at the Memphis Tigers media availability day. “I feel great about it. He (Hardaway) let us play our own game, too. So I don’t have to force anything.”
Now that Parks is nearing his target weight goal for the season, 245 pounds, he is adding more to his game. Last year, he only attempted seven three-point shots in the entire 2017-18 season. Parks said he recognizes he must become more versatile, and in order to do so, he must add things to his toolbox. During the offseason, he has been crafting his jump shot.
“I’m going to put some threes up,” Parks said. “If I’m hitting, then I’m going to keep doing it. But you know, I might have my nights where I’m off where I have to go the hole. But that’s the biggest difference is my three-point shooting and my mid-range shot. I didn’t shoot too many jumpers last year.”
Though there is a lot of hype surrounding this team, CBS Sports picked the Memphis Tigers to come in ninth in the American Athletic Conference. Parks said he was annoyed by this but said he is using it as motivation.
“I feel like that’s disrespectful,” Parks said. “And they picked us last last year, and we came in fifth. So, that was disrespectful. You have to have some pride in that to keep going hard.”
Regardless of the preseason rankings, many people still think the Memphis Tigers will shine. Parks said this team is going to exceed the expectations.
“Yeah we’re going to live up to the hype,” Parks said. “I mean we still got some work to do. We are not perfect. We still have some little errors here and there that we are fixing. Once we get it, ain’t nobody going to stop us.”
Mike Parks, Jr. goes up for a layup against Wichita State. Parks averaged 8.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in the 2017-18 season.
