AOTW: From the court to the field, Earl Parker’s ‘best decision’ is taking him a place he never considered

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) - Earl Parker is moving up in the world of football, but this wasn’t always the plan for this Fairbanks athlete who now has a chance to reach the highest level of football in the United States.

“There are just a handful of kids from the city of Fairbanks that have made it to the highest levels of D1 football. It’s a pretty rare treat,” said Luke Balash, the head coach for the Lathrop Malemutes football team. Balash, having previously seen another player of his reach Division I football in the NCAA, will now have two players to keep an eye on as Parker has signed to the University of Utah.

But for Parker, football wasn’t part of the plan. He instead started his journey playing basketball. During his time at Lathrop High School, Parker became a well-known name in the basketball community in Fairbanks. It was his time on the court, however, that took him to the football field.

“It was a crazy transition,” said Parker. “I thought I was going to be a basketball player, but Coach Balash and a couple other seniors, like Jaren and Eddie, they was begging me to come out.”

While he only played with the football team for his last two years in high school, it was “the best decision I ever made in my life,” Parker said.

Those two years would also turn out to be life-changing, as Parker and the rest of the team went on to take the Division II state title for Alaska.

Those victories led him to the next stage, playing college ball at the junior level at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. But he didn’t just play football there; his team would excel and compete in national games, putting a spotlight on Parker, providing him with D1 offers after just one year of college ball.

“His coaches said, no, no, no, come back, do another year, you’re gonna get better offers, I promise,” Balash explained. Parker said it was difficult to not take those initial offers.

“I feel like I kind of did my time at JUCO. I felt like it was time to move on.”

But the national games gave way to more and helped Parker see what could be waiting for him.

“It meant everything to me, especially just being from a small town and just walking onto the stadium, seeing how big the stadium was, the jumbotron, recording you on ESPN. So it was like I got a little glimpse of what my reality could really be.”

Having stayed with Hutchinson one more year, Parker ended his time in juniors with 20 offers from D1 schools.

Settling on the University of Utah, Parker will now call Salt Lake City his home for the remainder of his studies.

“I feel like it’s just really exciting, just having a crowd, 66,000 people, and just how much they care about football out there. It’s a lot.”

With two more years of college ball to go, Parker will soon set his eyes on the possibility of a pro-career.

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