A couple from ngyngiad on You Tube
HowieManzo23 on You Tube
Photo Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle from the CCSF website:
#21 De’End Parker-Sophomore
De’End was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, and attended Lincoln High School whom he led to the city title game. De’End was a starter on last season’s State runner-up team and gave teams fits with his size, skill, and athleticism. As the season wore on, De’End gained more and more confidence and comes into this season recognized as an All-American. As a senior in high school, he was voted league MVP in the Academic Athletic Association while playing for one of the most animated coaches in Northern California, Mike Gragnani. Upon receiving his AA degree, De’End plans on attending a four-year university, majoring in Criminal Justice.
EXCLUSIVE chat with De'End Parker, new UCLA commit
By Jon Gold on March 5, 2011 12:11 AM
Inside UCLA with Jon Gold
The Los Angeles Daily News
It's a little after midnight, and I just got off the phone with new UCLA commit De'End Parker. Quite frankly...wow. What an interview, what a bright, energetic kid. Little did I know, my mom lived a block from him in San Francisco for the last five years, so we probably ran into each other once or twice. You'll enjoy this interview. Part two coming up...
Jon Gold: So today is your birthday and you commit to UCLA. Pretty big day...
De'End Parker: "Wow, I commited to UCLA on my birthday (laughing). I'm really excited. I talked to the coaches, after going to my family for information, for support, and everybody is all in with this one. When I committed to Cal, a lot of people were like, "Weeeell..." Once I said UCLA, though, everyone was just going crazy. They love it."
JG: You committed to Cal only recently, how did the process change so quickly for you?
DP: "I didnt have all the information on the whole situation with UCLA. Cal was recruiting me since the beginning of the summer, and when UCLA came in the picture, I was talking to my uncle - he's the one who helped with the process - and I said if UCLA offers, I'm definitely picking them. Then Arizona State comes to a game, and they offer me, and I'm stuck between ASU and Cal, because UCLA didn't offer. There was a miscommunication; I told them I was going to wait until the end of the season, and they thought they had time. When I committed, it was in the sense that UCLA wasn't going to offer me. Once they did, for me, it was kind of a no-brainer."
JG: What made it a no-brainer? The 11 championships? The Final Four run? Wooden? Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook? Coach Howland?
DP: "You kind of sumed it all up right there. With Coach Howland and the history of the program, producing, getting people to the pros - I dont know a lot of people in D1 trying to play basketball for fun. I'm trying to make it a career. I think Coach Howland is a great coach, a great person, a great person to be around. I talked to him and Coach Matthews, and they're good people. There's nothing wrong with Cal or the coaches at all, I really like them and they're good people, too."
JG: You come to UCLA next season to pretty much fill out the roster, depending if a couple guys go to the NBA, but you'll be a junior; do you expect to come in and try to produce right away?
DP: "I've been battle-tested all my life. I've clearly never been in a situation like UCLA, but I'm definitely up for the challenge. That's the kind of person I am. The kind of player I am. I'm always going to try to rise to the occasion. As far as being able to come in and produce right away, they wouldn't have recruited if they didn't think I could. I mean, they don't even recuit junior college players. Pretty much just Jones, now. I'm feeling pretty comforable with my decision. I'm going to be happy. I know I'm going to be happy."
JG: There's a lot of talk about what position you'll play at UCLA. You play point guard now, but do you anticipate a move to the wing?
DP: "In high school I played wing and I was the primary scorer. It flipped the script when I went to City College; a lot of national JCs wanted to keep me at that position (wing). When I went to City they wanted me to play point guard, because they said my basketball IQ is great. I really know what's going on on the floor. It's been working out; people have been able to see more parts of my game. It bettered me. It expanded my game. People are being able to see, "He's a great passer, he can defend the position." I'll be happy if they want me to play the one, two or three."
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Division I-bound players point CCSF toward the top
By Vittorio Tafur, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle
Saturday, March 5, 2011
(03-05) 16:05 PST San Francisco -- Point guard De'End Parker decommitted to Cal and said Friday that he now intends to play basketball at UCLA next season. And the 6-foot-5 Parker is only the fourth-leading scorer for City College of San Francisco.
Yes, the Rams are stacked. No. 1 seed CCSF (29-1) hosts Santa Rosa (22-8) in the quarterfinals of the state tournament tonight, after winning its first two games of the California Community College Athletic Association playoffs by a combined 52 points.
The Rams lost in the state finals to Saddleback College-Mission Viejo (Orange County) last season - making it 49 years since their last state title.
"We're a lot deeper than last year," said Parker, who is averaging 11.9 points, 4.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds and shooting 44 percent from three-point range. "If somebody is not having that good of a day, we don't just roll with that person. We roll with somebody else."
Like 6-5 shooting guard Collin Chiverton (a Mitty High product), who is averaging 16.4 points per game after a year at St. Mary's. Or 6-5 guard/small forward Jonathan Williams (Kennedy-Richmond), who's good for 14.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Six-foot-seven forward Fred Sturdivant adds 12.1 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game, and 6-foot guard Ivan Dorsey (Riordan) bombs in 11.3 points a game.
Sturdivant is set to go to Texas Southern next year, and he and Parker are just two of six Rams expected to transfer to a Division I school.
The team has a lot of San Francisco roots, but in Parker's case, that was one of the reasons he changed his mind about going to Cal.
"It's time to get away," said Parker, who was a basketball star at Lincoln High in San Francisco. "I thought I wanted to stay close to my family, but now I think it will be good for me to get away. I haven't really been outside of San Francisco, and it will be good for me.
"Cal did nothing wrong. I just realized that UCLA was a better fit for me."
Eighth-year CCSF coach Justin Labagh loves the mix of players he has and is not worried that a 25-game winning streak will lead to overconfidence.
"We've had a great mind-set," said Labagh, who is 215-41 at CCSF. "We've always had offensive weapons, but our defense has really taken a step up."
In the past two games, the Rams allowed each opponent only seven points in the first 10 minutes.
"Talentwise, we can beat anybody we play," Parker said. "We know that working hard on defense is going to win us the whole thing."
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