Nov. 22, 2010
ATLANTA – Ray Parks, Jr., a 6-3 guard from Manila in the Philippines, has signed a letter-of-intent to play basketball at Georgia Tech, head coach Paul Hewitt announced Monday.
Parks, who played high school basketball in the Memphis area until this year, is spending his senior year in the Philippines. He played on the All-Asian team in the 2010 Nike Global Challenge in Hillsboro, Ore., and for the Philippine National Team in 3-on-3 basketball in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
“We’re very happy to welcome Ray to our program,” said Hewitt. “He’s a combination guard who is an excellent three-point shooter, and he has improved rapidly over the last six to nine months with his point guard play. He made a very positive impression on everybody around our program, and we feel fortunate to have had him sign with us during the early signing period.”
Parks is the son of former Memphis great Bobby Ray Parks, who starred for the Tigers in the early 1980s, was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks and played professionally in the Continental Basketball Association, France and the Philippines, where Ray, Jr., was born.
The family moved to Memphis when Parks was 13, and he played basketball his ninth and 10th-grade years at St. George’s Independent School in Collierville, Tenn., where he was the state private school player of the year in 2009. He transferred to Melrose High School for his 11th-grade year, and helped his team win a class AAA state championship in 2010.
A left-hander shooter, Parks, Jr., has dual citizenship in the United States and the Philippines. He is the second signee in Tech’s 2011 freshman class, joining 6-8 forward Julian Royal of Milton High School in Milton, Ga.
