Miller’s Parker still considering schools

As spring neared last basketball season, Mychal Parker had all but made up his mind about where he wanted to play in college. The 6-foot-6 standout at the Miller School had found a place and a coach that he really felt comfortable with.

Parker raved about Virginia’s campus and academic support system and spoke glowingly of coach Dave Leitao’s tough-love style.

But suddenly, Parker’s world was turned upside down when UVa parted ways with Leitao.

“I was really surprised,” said Parker, who led Miller to its first-ever state title in 2008-09. “I didn’t know he was going to go that fast. I thought he was going to stay a little longer.

“I was ready to [commit to UVa], but when he got fired, it just made me wait.”

Therein lies the rub for Virginia.

The Cavaliers got a new coach who could be able to help turn the program around in Tony Bennett, but they also may have lost out on one of the best talents to come out of Charlottesville in a while.

Parker, a North Carolina native who led Miller to its first-ever state title this past season, is rated as the 34th best prospect in the country by Rivals.com.

Virginia isn’t completely out of the hunt for the athletic swingman, but it definitely has some ground to make up.

Parker, who is on hand at the NBA Top 100 Camp this week at John Paul Jones Arena, now has a lengthy list of schools that he is considering (in addition to UVa). At this point, he has no specific leaders, but when asked to name the schools he’s looking at, he mentioned Miami, Maryland, Florida and Virginia Tech before he even got to Virginia.

Parker says he hopes to whittle his list, which also includes Kentucky, by the middle of next month. Ideally, he would like to sign during the early period in the fall.

Parker says he has been in close contact with Virginia’s new coaching staff.

“They’re all really cool people,” he said. “[Bennett] is a real Christian, laid-back guy. I like that.

“It seems he’s not going to sugarcoat things. He’s really going to tell you the truth. If you want to get better, he seems like a guy who can help you.”

Parker said that one of his main criteria for selecting a school will be its coach. Bennett, the national coach of the year in 2007, will have his work cut against the likes of Billy Donovan, Gary Williams and John Calipari.

“I always come back to coaching,” Parker said. “In college, if you have a great coach who knows what he’s doing…”

Parker has been into Virginia’s basketball offices to watch film with Bennett and has come away impressed.

“Coach Bennett was a former NBA player and knows what he’s talking about,” Parker said. “He’s shown me a couple of films. I heard a lot of rumors that he played slow ball, but he showed me a couple of films and I didn’t see any slow ball.

“I saw a lot of screen and rolls and hit the open man and just run and go. I liked that.”

After the completion of the Top 100 Camp, Parker will head home to North Carolina. With his hectic basketball schedule, that’s a place he hasn’t been in quite some time.

Parker said he will definitely be back at Miller next year. There had been talk that in the wake of coach Fred Wawner’s departure, he might transfer. However, Parker shot that down.

“I had a good relationship with [Wawner],” Parker said, “and I hope to have a good one with the new coach.”