Youngstown State Head Basketball Coach Jerry Slocum announced Wednesday that Sheridan College guard Tom Parks has signed a National Letter of Intent to join the program.

    Prior to signing with YSU, Parks (6-foot-6, 210 pounds) played last year at Sheridan College in Sherdian, Wyo. He attended Air Force Prep School after graduating from Cheyenne Central High School. He will have three years of eligibility remaining for the Penguins.

    Slocum said Parks has similar skills to current Penguin guard Vytas Sulskis, who was named the Horizon League's All-Newcomer team last year. Both players are similar in size and Parks averaged 2.3 3-point field goals made per contest in 30 games.

    "Tom will allow us to have more of an outside presence and his range should only help with the extension of the 3-point line," Slocum said. "He has good size and a tremendous work ethic both on the court and in the classroom."

    To keep his three seasons of eligibility, Parks is trying to earn his associates degree from Sheridan in just one year.

    In his lone season with the Generals, he averaged 14.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He shot 41.5 percent from the field making 137-of-330 field-goal attempts. He drained a team-high 70 3-pointers while attempting a team best 184. From the free-throw line Parks was solid making 81-of-101 attempts (80.2 percent). For the year he scored 425 points, grabbed 137 rebounds, had 43 assists and 23 steals.

    Parks said making the choice to leave Wyoming for Youngstown was not difficult.

    "The coaches seem like good people and I really liked the campus a lot," he said. "I had a good feeling when I visited. My parents talked to the coaches on the phone and we felt like it was a great place for me to spend the next three years."

    Parks said he spent nine years in Maine and coming back east was a motivating factor as well. He picked the Penguins after receiving interest from Wyoming and Cal Poly.
    After getting an opportunity to sign with a Division I school, Parks said he is not going to rest on his laurels.

    "My strength I would say is my shooting ability," Parks said, "I have to keep working at that because you can always become better. I need to work on my foot speed and my on-the-ball defense especially playing the three position."
    The Cheyenne, Wyo., native averaged 20 points and six rebounds per game as a senior at Central High School. He was a first-team all-state (Class 4A) and all-conference selection.

    Parks joins a group of signees that includes junior college players Sirlester Martin, Dallas Blocker, Kelvin Bright and DeAndre Mays along with freshmen Ashen Ward and Eddie D'Haiti.