Parks Gives the Fans Moments to Cherish

The starry-eyed fans surrounded him, as they do after every game, trying to put their marvel into words. Young boys beamed at their floppy-haired hero as he accepted handshakes and high-fives. Compliments were tossed like confetti.

“Way to go, Chief!”

“Heck of a game!”

Cherokee Parks scored just 18 points Tuesday night in Marina’s 59-57 upset of Capistrano Valley, but a slight dip in his 29.5-point average mattered not to his adoring public.

It wasn’t that the fans ignored Mike Carreon, whose three-pointer with five seconds remaining gave Marina the victory. Carreon received the lavish praise he deserved.

But this was a special moment for Parks’ fans, many of whom came to the game with the feeling that it might be his high school finale.

Others, such as former Marina and Notre Dame standout Rich Branning, came to take their first look at Parks, a 6-foot-11 senior who is bound for Duke in the fall.

“I think I’ve seen quite a few big guys in high school,” said Branning, whose school record of 43 points in a game was broken by Parks’ 44-point performance last week.

“But as far as skills, he’s the best big man I’ve ever seen.”

Parks missed his first three shots, then gave the fans what they wanted with his first basket, a slam off Tim Pham’s steal. But after being called for his third foul midway through the second quarter, Parks spent the rest of the first half on the bench.

A big star told to sit down is likely to brood, but not Parks. When he came back in the second half, his normally sad, sleepy-looking eyes were suddenly fierce, matching the expression of the Teen-Age Mutant Ninja Turtle character he wears on his high tops.

The grizzly within the gentle giant was freed, and even with two or three defenders hanging on him, Parks buried five shots in a row.

After the game, Parks credited Carreon again and again for the winning shot--”As it came out, it was victorious,” he said, sounding like a history professor--and praised his teammates for their efforts.

Even after Capistrano Valley Coach Mark Thornton reached up--way up--to pat Parks on the head, Parks had to be pressed into taking any credit for the game. He called his performance sloppy but looked forward to getting at least another chance to add more highlights to his prep career--perhaps with an upset of San Bernardino Friday.

This is the way it always has been for Parks, who at 18 is as humble as they come without being phony. When he’s asked for an autograph, he bends down, looks the young fan in the eye, smiles and thanks him for the request.

Obviously, the feeling is mutual.

If Parks is able to someday become the NBA player so many project him to be, you’ll be able to say you knew him well if you clip-’n’-save the following Cherokee Trivia:

His favorite food is pound cake, and he’s thinking of becoming a vegetarian. He wears a size 15 shoe. He has watched the movie “Time Bandits” 36 times (so far).

“Knots Landing” is his TV show of choice. He doesn’t own a car.

His pet peeve? Being asked how he got his name. (His father’s side of the family descended from the Cherokee tribe. But his mother says the name Cherokee was chosen because of the hippie stage his parents were going through. He was nearly named Moses.)

And those shorties who wonder how he became so tall? His mother is 5-11, his father is 6-7 and Cherokee was 22 1/2 inches long at birth.

But perhaps it comes down to the baby formula his mother concocted--a mixture of powdered goat’s milk, cod liver oil, brewer’s yeast, raw whole milk and black strap molasses.

“It looked like gray, thick, runny mashed potatoes,” his mother, Debe Parks, said.

Unlike adoration, Cherokee lapped it up.