Persistent Parris continues an odyssey

By Neil H. Devlin, Mullen Sports Information Director
Mullen alum goes from San Diego pitcher to USD hooper, to USC Trojan baller; and a lot of it because he changed his mind about Mustangs basketball. 
 
And now for some advice from Mullen alumnus Reggie Parris for current and future student-athletes...

“Play as many sports as you can, for as long as you can,” he said.

He’s not kidding. Long story short, he competed in multiple sports for the Mustangs, signed to play baseball at a prestigious college in San Diego, also tried out for their basketball team, decided to transfer to one of the nation’s top business schools, took online classes from his childhood bedroom in Lakewood, including while battling the coronavirus (COVID-19), then decided to try out for that school’s basketball team as well. 

Who knew?

“It’s ironic,” Parris said. “It’s crazy. It all worked out how it’s supposed to. Mullen was a big part of my journey.”

His recent odyssey of sorts has been interesting. Flash back to the 2017-18 school year. Parris, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior left-hander, signed during the early period for baseball and earned an academic scholarship with the University of San Diego’s Toreros. He didn’t plan on playing basketball his senior year at Mullen. However, he still wanted to be part of the team and offered to be its manager. 

While attending an early season practice, he mentioned to an assistant on the new coaching staff that he missed playing. He was apprehensive about approaching the new head coach about trying out for the team so close to the start of the season. He said to the assistant: “Geez, I probably should have come out for the team, but I’m not sure if coach will still be open to it.”  The assistant encouraged him. Parris didn’t know he was talking to Robby Caton, the son of the new head coach, Bob Caton.
 
“And the rest is history,” Bob Caton said.   

For the basketball season, Mullen improved its overall and Centennial League marks considerably in what coach Caton called, “getting us off to a great start and turning things around.” That season, Parris thought he had played his final minute of organized basketball in school.
 
Fast forward to baseball at USD. Parris became somewhat disillusioned after being asked to switch to pitching side-arm and redshirting that season. He decided to email USD’s basketball team regarding the possibility to join the team as a walk-on. After a tryout period, competing with other hopefuls, he was selected to join the team.
 
He appeared in only a handful of games, but made his debut at the Coors Events Center in Boulder against the University of Colorado Buffaloes in front of his family and friends in November 2019. 

“I was happy at San Diego but I always felt like, signing so early for baseball, I didn’t have that whole college search experience,” Parris said. “Then one night, I put in an application to the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting too much. It’s an amazing school and I ended up getting in. I debated going back to USD, it’s also a great school and I have many good friends there. But I kind of wanted a change and hoped there, too, would be an opportunity for more basketball.”

Thanks to a mentor and coach at San Diego who encouraged him to give it a try, Parris returned to USC halfway through the online semester after recovering from a mild, early-fall case of COVID-19.
 
As of this week, Parris appeared in his first game for USC, met Magic Johnson at practice, and earned a 4.0 grade-point average and Dean’s List status after completing his first semester at USC.

A current redshirt sophomore, Parris will be granted an additional year of eligibility due to the pandemic. Once again, Parris will have an opportunity to come to his home state, when the Trojans will be in Boulder on Feb. 25 to take on CU. 

“He’s a classy kid,” said Bob Caton. “And it’s great for Reggie. When we were going to play our last game when he was a senior, he and (fellow senior) Nick Cito insisted we start the other three seniors who didn’t get to play as much.  And we did.”

Fulfilling his dream of playing a college sport while attempting to earn the best business degree he can, Parris knows it hasn’t gone according to conventional plan, but the ride is better than expected.
 
His situation serves as a real, live message to others who can drive themselves -- and their families, friends and coaches -- crazy while chasing a student-athlete career.

“Honestly,” he said. “Be persistent. Don’t lose hope and be flexible. You never know what life will throw your way. Don’t be afraid to ask. That’s how I got on the team -- I just asked about walk-on tryouts. You never know what might happen once something starts.”
 
“Just take that leap of faith and trust your gut!”
 
Back