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Date Posted: 19:09:56 09/11/03 Thu
Author: Starter
Subject: Parish set the bar high at Centenary (Times)

Parish set the bar high at Centenary
Jimmy Watson / The Times
Posted on September 6, 2003

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Although it came more than three decades ago, former Centenary coach Riley Wallace remembers the call from Robert Parish as if it were yesterday.

Then an assistant coach to Larry Little, Wallace said Parish called the school about noon to tell them they'd won one of the toughest recruiting battles the coaching staff had ever been involved in.

"We decided to have a reception and Larry and I started calling boosters," Wallace said. "Larry lived in one of those little stucco houses on the Centenary campus and we knew we couldn't have it there, so we decided to have it at my house in Anderson Island, which was a little bigger.

"We ordered champagne, although it was Cold Duck, and invited about 125-150 people to come for the signing. It rained all day, so we figured hardly anyone would show up. But every person we invited came. That's how big a day it was for us to sign Robert Parish."

Parish went on to NBA stardom and was enshrined Friday night into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame along with six other inductees. What he built at Centenary, however, means just as much to many Northwest Louisiana basketball fans as what he did in NBA cities.

The 7-foot center out of Union Junior High and Woodlawn High School rewrote the Centenary scoring and rebounding record books and helped the East Kings Highway school attain a Top 25 ranking.

"It was critical for us to find someone talented but we also needed a good person to go with it, and Rob filled the bill," said Little, who now sells real estate in Las Vegas. "Rob allowed our program to really take off. We had lots and lots of packed houses in the Gold Dome and he was the primary reason."

Nate Bland played with Parish during those glory days and remembers him as a "mild-mannered guy with a nice shot."

As a shooting guard, Bland said he benefited from the Chief's largesse with a basketball.

"He was very unselfish. If he didn't have a shot, he had a great outlet pass and would wing it back out to me," said Bland, who works in Columbus, Ohio. "It's awesome that he's receiving this honor because he represented himself and Centenary very well."

Wallace said Parish set an example in practice sessions and in the classroom that gave the other Centenary players a road map to follow.

"He was a class act from day one and came to Centenary to get a degree first and foremost," Wallace said.

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