May 15, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State head basketball coach Tim Jankovich bolstered his Chicago recruiting ties with the hiring of Paris Parham, a well-respected high school coach in the Windy City's Public League. Parham also boasts 10 years of college coaching experience.
Jankovich saw Parham's Chicago ties as an ideal fit for Illinois State's basketball program.
"When I came here, I felt like one of the most important things for me to do was to find an assistant coach with very strong Chicago ties, and someone that was truly a Chicagoan," said Jankovich. "I asked countless people in the city who they would recommend and Paris' named kept coming up over and over. With his college and high school coaching experience, I thought he was the perfect fit."
Parham looks forward to building off the relationships he built in the Chicago metropolitan area to help ISU recruit in that region.
"Spending the last three years as a high school coach in the city has been an invaluable experience," said Parham. "Not only have I gotten to know a lot of kids at all levels, but I have built a great rapport with a lot of the coaches in the city and suburbs.
"I was always an Illinois State fan from growing up in the state and going to Lincoln College, which is right down the road. ISU is a great place, and is in a centralized location for recruiting. I look forward to getting started."
For the past year, Parham served as the head coach at Chicago Morgan Park High School, where he led the Mustangs to a 19-10 record. For the previous two campaigns, he was the head coach at Chicago Phillips High School where he coached Illinois State's Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year Osiris Eldridge.
Parham also brings a long resume of college coaching experience to the Redbirds. Prior to his stint at Phillips, Parham served on staff at Maryland-Eastern Shore for three years and at Minnesota State (formerly Mankato State) for six seasons.
Parham's college basketball playing career included two years at both Lincoln College and Mankato State.
