NC State freshman guard Trey Parker is emerging as a rising star

By Noah Fleischman

Trey Parker is used to cameras rising from photographers’ laps, ready to capture the moment when the ball is in his hands. He’s become accustomed to the bated breath of those in the gym when he makes his way to the rim. The reactions after he finishes with an elaborate dunk never get old. 

When he hit the floor for NC State’s annual preseason dunk contest to conclude its Primetime with the Pack festivities inside Reynolds Coliseum, Parker felt at home. 

The freshman guard knows how to put on a show, which he did in his first impression in front of NC State’s fan base. 

Parker lined up a 6-foot-10 Brandon Huntley-Hatfield behind junior forward Ismaël Diouf and added NC State’s mascot, Mr. Wuf, to create a three-man line right outside the restricted area under the basket. The bouncy guard made it look like he was hitting a layup. Parker cleared all three with ease and finished with the ball in his right hand powering through the rim. 

While Parker brought the 76-year old venue to its feet — a skill set that David “Skywalker” Thompson would have likely done in his prime if dunking was legal five decades ago — it isn’t the first-year player’s entire identity. 

Yes, he put himself on the global stage with viral dunks growing up, but Parker entered the year determined to prove he’s more than that. He showed it as a top-150 recruit out of high school, and now Parker is doing the same at the collegiate level with NC State. 

“When you see him play, he’s not as flashy as he is when you see him on the internet,” NC State head coach Kevin Keatts said during the preseason. “He’s a good basketball player. What I wanted from Trey is to be more of a basketball player than to be a guy who’s about Instagram and Snapchat. 

“He’s a freshman, but he’s a talented basketball player that will bring a lot of value to our program.”

Parker not only has been able to create highlight-reel plays this season, but he’s also become one of the emerging cornerstone pieces of the program moving forward.

‘Showtime’

Parker remembers driving down the court with a defender in front of him. The next thing he knew, the crowd watching this fifth-grade boys basketball game at Freedom Christian Academy in Fayetteville was on the playing surface in the middle of the game. 

What happened in between? The birth of  “Showtime.”

Parker, who has always seemed to have springs for legs, put that very defender on a poster with a dunk over top of him. At the time, Parker thought he hit a layup. Until he realized why the crowd reacted the way it did. 

“It was just crazy,” Parker said with a smile as he recalled that moment. “I didn’t even know I dunked it. I turned around and saw everybody on the court. I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ It was just crazy.”

From that moment on, Parker turned heads left and right with his dunking ability. By the time he reached high school, clips of his dunks went viral. His brand grew, and so did the attention. 

Parker’s highlight-reel finishes generated hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, including one video that currently has more than four million. The spotlight was on Parker each time he took the floor, whether it was in warmups or mid-game, those in attendance always expected a show-stopping dunk.

“When my first dunk went viral, it was like, ‘OK, I’m here now,’” Parker said. “You just have to go along with it. I adjusted to the attention, and it went more and more and more [viral].”

He admitted he didn’t ever train to dunk in high school, rather everything that happened on the court was “natural.” That only added fuel to Parker’s reputation as a skinny guard flying through the air easily with his punishing exclamation mark at the rim each time. 

Parker embraced his viral moments. He didn’t run from them, which has led his Instagram following to exceed more than 500,000 followers. The Fayetteville native viewed this as an opportunity to inspire others. 

“I just like putting on for the kids,” Parker said. “When I was a kid, there were people that did make it and didn’t make it. I just want to be the person that makes it for the kids because all the kids look up to me. … I just want to be an inspiration for them.”

While he quickly became must-watch basketball in every gym he played in from the high school level to AAU and eventually Overtime Elite, Parker didn’t worry about those on the outside. He just wanted to play basketball — and the creative dunks continued to follow. 

“Being popular in high school wasn’t a big thing for me,” Parker said. “It did happen fast, but at the same time, every time I step on the court, I just block the crowd out and play the game.”

Growing as a freshman

There’s more to “Showtime Trey” than just his high-flying dunks. And he’ll be the first to tell you. He could always score on all three levels, while defense remains his favorite part of the sport. 

“My defense makes my offense,” Parker said. “If I get a stop on defense, I know I’m going to score. Defense makes me happy. I love defense.” 

Parker, who spent his senior season and took a prep year at Overtime Elite, impressed against the top-level talent the Atlanta-based program pitted him against. Playing with the Cold Hearts, Parker averaged 10.3 points with 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals during his final season. 

Parker’s prep year helped him prepare for the collegiate level. His basketball habits improved and so did his focus, former Cold Hearts coach Tim Fanning told TheWolfpacker.com late last year. 

“He’s really improved in all of the invisible aspects of the game that I think a lot of guys overlook,” Fanning said. “I think it’s starting to click for him, and it’s just starting to show on the court.”

That paid off once he arrived at NC State. Parker, who was one of three freshmen to join the Pack this season, has seen the most usage of the bunch. He is averaging 4.9 points with 1.5 rebounds and 0.9 assists on 46.5 percent shooting through his first 20 games.

More recently, Parker has become more consistent in his practice habits and has begun to “turn a corner,” Keatts said.

“I saw a guy that was a really good basketball player that could play both guard positions and do some really good things on the floor with his athletic ability,” Keatts said of evaluating Parker’s potential when he was a recruit. “Now, everybody is starting to see that.”

Parker has experienced a breakout stretch over the last four games. He is averaging 12.2 points with 1.7 assists on 52.1 percent shooting from the field, including a 52.9 percent mark from three-point distance.

He has increased his season-best point total twice over the past quartet of games with 15 points at No. 2 Duke on Jan. 27 and 19 points at Stanford on Saturday night.

“Trey has established himself as a guy who deserved the minutes and is playing well,” Keatts said on the postgame radio broadcast at Stanford. “This was one of those grow-up nights. He’s earning more minutes and more trust from his teammates, and he’s starting to play well.”

The biggest adjustment for Parker was becoming a true point guard. He was used to having the ball in his hands in high school, but the offense was usually his ability to score. Now, he’s growing comfortable with running plays and distributing to others as graduate guard Michael O’Connell’s primary backup. 

It’s been a learning experience, but O’Connell has been there every step of the way. The former Stanford transfer appears to have been a good teacher for Parker, stressing the importance of patience and seeing the entire court instead of the side he’s on.

Parker is used to playing at one speed — fast — so the learning curve has come in the half court, but that is improving. He posted a season-best 5 assists in the Pack’s 74-73 loss at Stanford, a clear sign of growth in his game.

“At the end of the day, you have to focus on the main goal,” Parker said. “The main goal is to get everybody involved and have a good stat line. Making the coaches see what they want to see and getting teammates involved.”

Parker wasn’t worried about how many minutes he was going to play in his first season at NC State. But as the season has progressed, he has continued to make positive strides.

It almost seems as if Parker takes a step forward game by game — a healthy way of improving in his first season at the collegiate level. 

“You just learn with experience,” senior guard Jayden Taylor said of Parker earlier this season. “As time goes, he’s going to get even better. We haven’t seen the best Trey yet. I’m proud of him.”

As Parker continues to grow within NC State’s system, he still sees his flashy play shine at different spots. He has nifty moves to get to the rim before finishing with an eye-popping layup — or on two occasions so far, a dunk. His high-arching three-pointers that nearly resemble a rainbow are also just as impressive.

No matter what he does, though, Parker is always going to give it his all on the court. His effort hasn’t been questioned, whether he plays five or 20 minutes in a given game. And that may be an underrated piece of his game.

“He just plays hard as hell,” said Fanning, who is now an assistant at BYU. “I think that’s one of the reasons people enjoy watching him play. He plays with a lot of passion, and when you watch him play, you can feel that.”