When 17-year-old T.J. Parker plays basketball for Northwestern next year, he won’t be overwhelmed by the competition.
The 6-foot-2, French-born point guard from Lisle High School has played basketball on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, he probably won’t find tougher competition in the Big Ten than those who sit across from him at the family dinner table.
T.J.’s father, Tony Sr., played professionally in Europe for 15 years, while his older brother, Tony Jr., is the starting point guard for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.
All three Parkers came to Evanston on Saturday to play with the NU team.
“Tony Parker took it easy, but you could tell he was an NBA-caliber player,” NU forward Winston Blake said. “T.J. was flying up the court and it was unbelievable how fast he could dribble up the court. I call him ‘Speedy Gonzalez’ because he’s so quick.”
Tony Sr. was born on the South Side of Chicago and played basketball at Leo High School before spending four seasons at Loyola from 1973-77. He became the sixth-leading scorer in school history with 1605 points.
After college Tony Sr. went overseas, where he first played in the Netherlands and Belgium. He spent the majority of his playing days in France, where he ended his career and started coaching youth teams.
“Ever since they were small children, they have been around basketball all year round,” Tony Sr. said. “They grew up in a basketball environment, and they all played together nonstop when they were young.”
T.J.’s brother, Tony Jr., was the first to share his father’s love for basketball, and he quickly excelled in the sport. Now 19, Tony Jr. has been playing professionally since age 15 and competed on the French national team in the 2001 European Championships.
The Spurs rookie was the first European point guard to become a regular starter in the NBA, and he was named to the 2001-02 NBA All-Rookie first team. In this year’s playoffs, he averaged 15.5 points per game.
“My brother and I used to always play one-on-one in a park near our house outside Normandy,” T.J. said. “The games were very competitive and he would do some talking – I beat him once when he let me shoot.”
Born in Valenciennes, France, T.J. is following the path of his father’s basketball career – backward, that is. After learning the game in the country where Tony Sr. retired, T.J., then 16, decided to leave France in June 2001 and move to Chicago – his father’s hometown – to pursue basketball.
The teenager lived with his aunt Laverne, uncle John and cousin Jonathan, until his father and younger brother moved to the Windy City a year later.
T.J. felt comfortable with his relatives because he had previously stayed with them when his family took its annual Christmas trip to Chicago. He was already friends with Jonathan, who also graduated from Lisle this year, and the two had spent a summer together in France.
“He wasn’t an imposition at all, but he melted right into our family just like he did at school and with the team,” Laverne said. “He’s a gentle giant and he gets along with everybody.”
T.J., who speaks fluent English in addition to his native French, had no problems adjusting to the academics at Lisle.
He graduated Friday and is looking forward to not having to start his days at 7:50 a.m. – which he had to do after moving from France to the U.S. high school system.
“People really like him, and teachers always tell me how polite he is,” said Mark D’Amico, T.J.’s high school coach. “He is a player who has the things that you can’t coach, and he’s willing to really work hard.”
The lightning-quick guard focused on improving his shot last summer, and it paid dividends in his senior season. He earned All-State honors from The Associated Press and averaged 22 points and 3.5 assists per game, despite sitting out the fourth quarter of several blowout victories.
The point guard will head back to France this summer to play for the French junior national team. He was one of 12 players selected to play for France in the European Championships.
The foreign sensation with basketball in his blood’s eagerly awaiting his chance to take the court for the Wildcats next season.
“Northwestern is a great school, and getting my degree is the most important thing for me,” T.J. said. “America is the land of opportunity, and you have the chance to do whatever you want. If I don’t make the NBA like my brother I can always go back to Europe and play basketball like my father.”
