A Devil of a Time : Southern Californian Cherokee Parks, Who Spurned UCLA for Duke, Has Been Struggling

DURHAM, N.C. —  The Next Bill Walton has not stood the Atlantic Coast Conference on its ear.

Quite the opposite.

Cherokee Parks has struggled as a freshman at Duke.

Struggled to find his place on the nation’s No. 1 team.

Struggled to understand a trying relationship with his most celebrated teammate, All-American Christian Laettner.

Struggled to adjust to a lifestyle that revolves around the demands of big-time college basketball.

A product of Marina High in Huntington Beach, the laid-back Parks is among the first to admit that he wasn’t prepared for the culture shock that has greeted him on Tobacco Road.

He told an amused Durham reporter last week that his idea of a perfect day would be to sleep past noon and spend the rest of the day at the beach.

But, as Parks has found, the ACC is no day at the beach.

“It’s been very intense,” Parks said. “It’s been really hard. I wasn’t expecting it to be so much basketball. I didn’t know we’d go through all the meetings and the films and the talks and the lectures. Eating with the team and traveling. It was a lot more than I expected.”

After a fast start, Parks was slowed by an ankle injury less than two weeks into the season and has not developed into a major contributor for the Blue Devils, as Coach Mike Krzyzewski hoped he would.

He has played less than 15 minutes a game, averaging 6.3 points and 2.7 rebounds while making 58.8% of his shots, 72.6% of his free throws. Despite his limited time, he leads the Blue Devils with 24 blocked shots.

But since Jan. 27, when he made eight of 10 shots, scored a season-high 19 points and took eight rebounds in a 112-73 victory over Clemson, he has averaged less than three points and two rebounds.

Still, he remains upbeat.

“I’d like to be contributing more,” he said, “but it’s not like I’m playing badly. I’m not making mistakes. I’m just kind of out there. I’d like to pick things up.”

Said Krzyzewski: “His attitude is good. He loves it here and we get along great. But he hasn’t found his niche, and I’m not sure he will this year. I hope he does because he’s a really good player, potentially an excellent player, but he’s not ready to make his mark yet.

“I’m not disappointed in him. I’m disappointed for him.”

It’s a homecoming for him, but Parks won’t be greeted warmly today when Duke plays fourth-ranked UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.

He’s the one who got away.

A graceful 6-foot-11, 235-pound center, Parks was considered one of the nation’s top five prospects during his time at Marina, where his play reminded some of Walton.

“Because I was a big, white kid,” Parks said, shrugging.

UCLA Coach Jim Harrick considered Parks the missing piece that could put the talented but postman-deficient Bruins over the top, and Harrick and his assistants invested a great deal of time in pursuing Parks.

But Parks, impressed by what he saw during a visit to Duke, committed to the Blue Devils before making an official visit to UCLA.

“People always said, ‘You’ll just know where you want to go,’ and I just knew this was where I wanted to go,” Parks said. “I didn’t see any reason why I should take my other visits. It’s just a feeling I got when I visited, and I thought about it the whole way back. I just knew I wanted to come here. It’s a feeling you can’t really explain.”

Harrick seemed to take it personally, reacting angrily.

“He and his family owed us more than a phone call,” he said.

About a month earlier, Parks had narrowed his choices to five schools--Duke, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State and Kentucky.

He visited only Kentucky and Duke before committing.

His mother, Debe, who has since moved from Huntington Beach to Blue Springs, Mo., was active in the recruiting process, making phone calls to players and their parents at each of the five schools.

“I wanted him to talk to role players, rather than starters,” she said. “I wanted him to get a feel for the entire program.

“You can’t help but feel that the coach is going to have a major influence on his life for four years. You’d be silly to think otherwise. If Cherokee was going to be influenced, I wanted him to be influenced by a good person.”

She said she never heard an adverse word about Krzyzewski.

Kentucky’s Rick Pitino also came highly recommended.

She declined to say what she had heard about the other coaches, but added: “I was unimpressed with how a couple of people reacted and it sort of confirmed your thoughts from beforehand.”

Neither she nor her son had anything bad to say about UCLA.

But Parks does not regret canceling his official trip. He attended several games at Pauley Pavilion during his junior year at Marina.

“I’ve been out to UCLA enough times to know what it’s like,” he said. “I knew what I was turning down and I don’t think I’ve missed out on anything.”

It was UCLA that missed out, as Parks showed early on.

In a 101-67 exhibition victory over High Five America last November, he scored 17 points and took seven rebounds in 18 minutes, making eight of nine shots.

The following week, in a 90-70 exhibition victory over the Soviets, he scored 19 points and took eight rebounds in 22 minutes, making eight of 11 shots.

With Laettner sidelined because of a foot injury, Parks started in the Blue Devils’ regular-season opener, a 103-75 rout of East Carolina, making all five of his shots, scoring 16 points and taking eight rebounds in 20 minutes.

Five days later, he made all six of his shots, scored 15 points and took six rebounds in a 118-65 victory over Harvard.

“I was really impressed with him,” teammate Bobby Hurley said. “He excited me with some of the things he was doing. He was all over the offensive boards at the beginning of the year. I was in awe of how well he was playing. I knew he was a player, but the things he was doing shocked me.”

In a 91-81 victory over St. John’s, Parks suffered a high-ankle sprain. But he still scored nine points in nine minutes.

“Parks is the most significant addition to Duke’s championship cast,” wrote Alexander Wolff of Sports Illustrated. “Parks--could he be anything but Chief to his teammates?--is to Laettner what Laettner was to All-American Danny Ferry three seasons ago: a freshman post-stud-in-waiting.”

The injury, however, sidelined Parks for three weeks.

He has not been the same.

“What happens is, you’re out for three weeks just with the injury itself,” Krzyzewski said. “Then, you get out of shape. And when a young kid who has not yet proven himself gets out of shape, the train keeps rolling and then when you want to get on again, you’re not as good as the rest of the guys. It impacts on you in that you start questioning yourself, ‘Am I that good?’ If it’s an older player who has already established himself, he knows he’s that good because he’s been that good.

“But a younger player goes through a confidence swing. I’d say for about four or five weeks, he just wasn’t ready physically or psychologically, and it knocked him back.”

While trying to catch up, Parks also faced the problems of adjusting to a more physical game than they one he played in high school and trying to blend in with a veteran group that itself was adapting to the challenge of spending the entire season ranked No. 1.

In 14 ACC games, he has reached double figures only once.

Parks said that he needs to be more assertive on the court. As a freshman, he said, he has been reluctant to step up.

“It kind of seems like when you’re a young guy and you miss a shot, it’s like, ‘Oh, jeez,’ ” Parks said, “but if somebody else misses a shot who has more authority on the team, it’s like, ‘Oh, he missed a shot. Let’s give it to him again.’

“I don’t know if that’s just me, or that’s the way it really is. I’ve just got to wipe that out of my mind and start shooting.”

No one would mind, Hurley said.

“He has a lot of ability, and he’s shown it already this year,” Hurley said. “It’s just like a little tease that he has not done it more. But he’s playing with a lot of great players, and you tend not to want to step up when you have other great players around you--guys he has probably watched on television. So, I can see why he would be a little hesitant, but he’s really got to get over that.

“If he stepped up and scored 16 or 18 points and grabbed eight or 10 boards, there wouldn’t be any jealousy on this team. Everyone would be excited about it. He’s just got to realize that.”

Parks made two starts after returning from his injury, but he scored only three points against Virginia in his second.

He has been a reserve since, acting as Laettner’s backup.

“Coach wanted to try something different, so he gave Cherokee an opportunity,” Hurley said. “And, as a freshman, when you get that opportunity, you’ve got to seize it and take advantage of it. But he didn’t really attack it well and didn’t take the position. Thomas (Hill) got it right back. . . .

“He’s just got to be more aggressive on the boards.”

Said Krzyzewski: “When you get into the ACC, it’s a war, and he was knocked back. I mean, I think he was shocked.”

His daily skirmishes with Laettner, both physical and verbal, probably haven’t helped Parks’ confidence.

“You never seem to be accepted by him,” Parks said. “He plays a lot of mind games with you. I don’t know if that’s his way of trying to make you a better player or what. It’s kind of hard to tell if he’s helping you or not. He’s a hard person to figure out. . . .

“He’s always getting on you. He (ticks) me off a lot. I don’t know if he’s doing it to make me play better, but he’s always coming at me with all this negativity. At times, you’re going, ‘Wow, just let me be me. Let me do my thing. I’m not trying to be you.’ ”

Laettner said his actions probably have been misinterpreted.

“If I didn’t think he was going to be a good player, or a great player, then I wouldn’t pay as much attention to him as I do,” Laettner said. “But I’ve seen his talent. I’ve seen him work out with me one-on-one. I saw him play in the fall, when he was playing really well, making every shot he took and rebounding and dunking the ball.

“So, I know how good he can be. I know how good we all expect him to be. And when he doesn’t live up to those expectations, I will say something to him.”

Krzyzewski said Parks has read too much into Laettner’s words.

“That’s the way Christian would rather have somebody talk to him,” Krzyzewski said. “But Cherokee’s not the same guy. And I’ve told Cherokee, ‘Take it for what it’s worth. You think anybody wants you to do poorly? They’re trying to help you. You’ve got to grow up and be tougher. Don’t take things personally. These guys have been through a lot, been to the Final Four three times, won a championship, and they realize that for us to be good, everybody’s got to be good.’ ”

Hurley, though, said that he understood Parks’ confusion.

“Christian is very confident, very cocky,” Hurley said. “The type of personality Cherokee is, I could see that affecting him. It definitely affected me my freshman year. Christian and I had all kinds of problems. It took me a year to adjust to playing with him.

“You can’t let it affect you. He has a lot of good things to say, but some things he says, you just don’t listen to him. Cherokee has to learn that. It’s getting late, though. He’d better get on the ball.”

By at least one account, Parks has started to adjust.

“I’ve been very impressed with the way he’s handled Christian,” said Debbie Krzyzewski, a Duke junior and the oldest of the coach’s three daughters. “Christian will dunk on him in practice and then say at dinner, ‘Did you see the way I dunked on you?’ And Cherokee will just say, ‘Yeah, Christian, you’re the greatest.’ ”

Said Laettner: “Maybe next year, once I’m gone, he’ll feel more relaxed. I would hate to see that happen, we need him now.”

What is Parks’ future?

“I see him moving into Christian’s role,” Hurley said. “He’ll be a good target for us down low next year. He’ll be more confident and more aggressive.

“Hopefully, we’ll see those things this season. We’ve got a long way to go. But you’ll see it a lot more next year.”

Parks said he needs to work at being an accomplished postman.

“Right now, I feel more comfortable at the forward position because I’m not strong enough at the center position,” he said. “My post moves aren’t real polished.

“Once I have someone beat, I have a lot of trouble keeping my position and sealing them out. They usually get around me, so I’ve got to work a lot on my strength. I’d like to be more of a pure center, but my (lack of) strength is holding me back.”

Krzyzewski is confident that Parks will develop.

“Cherokee’s going to be an outstanding player, no question about it,” Krzyzewski said. “This is not a 50-meter race. It’s a four-year race. He has contributed this year. I thought he’d contribute a little bit more, but there’s no question he’ll be a huge contributor here.

“Next year, with the personalities on the team, I think it will flow freely. My plan was that he would play a big role this year and then maybe be a starter next year. He could have been a starter this year, but definitely next year. That’s where he should be. If he’s not, I’d be surprised.

“I know there are much better days ahead for him.”