Over the past few months, North Hills star Royce Parham developed a close bond with a coach who recently led his team to a Big East Conference title.
Parham announced his college choice Wednesday, and to him, it was the “Smart” decision.
Parham, a 6-foot-8 forward considered one of the top 100 juniors in the country, made a verbal commitment to Marquette, choosing the Golden Eagles over finalists Xavier, Penn State and Pitt.
Marquette is coached by Shaka Smart, who guided VCU to a Final Four a decade ago and has led the Golden Eagles to NCAA tournament appearances in each of his first two seasons. This past season, Marquette won the Big East regular season and conference titles, earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, and finished with a 29-7 overall record after falling to Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA tournament. One of Smart’s assistant coaches is Nevada Smith, a graduate of Kiski Area High School.
With Smart in attendance, Parham scored 30 points while leading North Hills past Kiski Area in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. That type of scoring performance was commonplace for Parham during a junior season that saw him average 28 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks a game on his way to being named to the inaugural PUP all-star team. Parham led North Hills to a second consecutive section title and to the WPIAL semifinals. He scored a school-record 47 points in a win against Pine-Richland and will enter his senior season with just over 1,500 career points.
Many schools were in hot pursuit of Parham, who received his first scholarship offers from Duquesne and Robert Morris when he was a sophomore. Sean Miller and Xavier made a big push, as did Penn State. Parham’s mom, Kim (Calhoun) Parham, was a star player at Penn State who still holds the school’s career record for blocked shots. However, when Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry bolted for Notre Dame last month, it certainly didn’t help the Nittany Lions chances of landing Parham. Pitt was long considered a long shot.
Rivals ranks Parham the No. 82 player in the country and the No. 6 player in Pennsylvania in the 2024 class. Parham also held offers from George Mason, Maryland, Notre Dame, Rutgers, TCU, VCU, West Virginia and Wisconsin. He took official visits to Marquette, Notre Dame, Penn State and Wisconsin.
Parham’s decision wasn’t a dramatic one, as it had been rumored for a week or two that Marquette would be his choice. But that doesn’t mean Parham doesn’t have a flair for the dramatic. He made winning baskets in the closing seconds of several games last season, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift North Hills to a thrilling win against South Fayette.
Parham will be able to sign with Marquette during the early signing period in November.
While many people first think of guys like Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler when talking about Marquette basketball, a few of the other top players in program history hail from Western Pennsylvania. Former Schenley great Maurice Lucas led Marquette to the NCAA final in 1974 and is one of nine players in program history to have their number retired. Former Central Catholic star Marc Marotta played at Marquette in the early 1980s. Both Lucas and Marotta still rank among the top rebounders in school history.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.