Parker Fox on the possibility of returning next year: I'm going to have a tough decision to make with my last year. It would be my 8th year of college

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Really hope he comes back because this team needs him and he has been playing better and better as the season has gone on.

8 years in college would be a really long time, but he was robbed of a few seasons of playing ball and his potential for a career in basketball is really limited so why not run it back one more time and really go out on a high note as a key piece on what will hopefully be a tournament team next year.....

Fox was really the one bright spot against Indiana.....he gave it everything he had while the rest of the guys were stinking up the joint.
 

Hmm, he might wait to see what others do first. If the team is looking thin, he'll move on. If team returns all key players from this season, he'll join em!
 



Spottedmuskie said:
Hmm, he might wait to see what others do first. If the team is looking thin, he'll move on. If team returns all key players from this season, he'll join em!
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That certainly might be playing into it. I mean he had an easy answer to the question sitting there if he is for sure done since he participated in senior day. He may want to see if the team is going to be a tournament contender or rebuilding again.

My advice to Parker would be stay in school and play as long as you can. Real life can wait. He got cheated out of 2 seasons but has been getting better and better as this season has gone on. Run it back one more time and be that 6th man spark of the bench that every team needs.
 

That dude has far exceeded my expectations. He probably has the highest basketball IQ on the team, along with Hawkins and Garcia. He just understands how things work out there. He's mobile, hostile and agile, and he hustles his butt. I've come to love the kid.

Selfishly, I hope to see him back. But as the father of a collegiate athlete who forewent two potential years of additional eligibility to get on with her life (and escape Wisconsin), I would totally get it.
 

Bad Gopher said:
That dude has far exceeded my expectations. He probably has the highest basketball IQ on the team. He just understands how things work out there. He's mobile, hostile and agile, and he hustles his butt. I've come to love the kid.

Selfishly, I hope to see him back. But as the father of a collegiate athlete who forewent two potential years of additional eligibility to get on with her life (and escape Wisconsin), I would totally get it.
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The play he made last night where he chased down a loose ball, made a crazy move to save it and throw it back in bounds while going full speed off the court was the kind of hustle play you don't see very often. That play took him totally off the court and he ran out of bounds a short distance to the side of the court and jumped back on to hustle back into the play.

Shame we didn't get to see him at his most explosive before the injuries but he is a lot of fun to watch and there is no doubting that he will give it everything he has whenever he is out on the court.

His skill set is limited but he knows how to make the most of it.
 





MaxyJR1 said:
Johnson on his coaches show talked about how much Fox has to work to be ready for each game. The decision should be fully up to Parker on this one.
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Agree, none of us really knows just what Fox has to do in order to play at the level he plays at. But the dude is a basketball junkie so my gut says that if he feels like he can do it again for one more year we will see him out there.
 


I mean I hope he comes back, but at what point does he want to start earning a living? He'll have already missed out on making money for 4 years if he comes back. If he can get like 50K or so in NIL it would make more sense, but I can't think he's getting that much.
 



I get wanting to stay and wanting to move on. He's not only been in college for several years, he's had basically two careers. He had a prolific time at Northern State on top of his career at Minnesota.
 

I get the desire to move on with your life. I remember being antsy to join the "real world". It's a sign that he is a healthy and developed person - you want to keep improving and build your life.

That said, it can wait another year. Trust us old heads, you have your whole life to work. When you're 43, you'll sometimes forget if you're 44 or 42. Minutes will drag and years will fly while you're building your career. That's totally okay and it's part of life. Unless there are health issues (and there could be with Parker), I just have a hard time believing most people wouldn't regret leaving that year on the table.

I hope he is back.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I get the desire to move on with your life. I remember being antsy to join the "real world". It's a sign that he is a healthy and developed person - you want to keep improving and build your life.

That said, it can wait another year. Trust us old heads, you have your whole life to work. When you're 43, you'll sometimes forget if you're 44 or 42. Minutes will drag and years will fly while you're building your career. That's totally okay and it's part of life. Unless there are health issues (and there could be with Parker), I just have a hard time believing most people wouldn't regret leaving that year on the table.

I hope he is back.
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Couldn't agree more. If he can physically do it he should play one more year, down the line that experience will be far more valuable then one extra year in the work force.
 

He has an unbelievable knack for knowing just when to leave his man to help on defense and go for the block. I LOVE when he flies in for a two handed block!
 

MaxyJR1 said:
Johnson on his coaches show talked about how much Fox has to work to be ready for each game. The decision should be fully up to Parker on this one.
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He was asked about returning a short time ago and reportedly replied that he wasn't sure and didn't know if his knees could take it.
 


If he can, my advice would be to stay. Why? Cuz I am over 70, and trust me, your working life is long enough. You can alway accomplish things in the future, but you will NEVER be able to go back to your past. It’s obviously his decision, but if the only reason to move on is to get his adult life going, then play another year. You will never regret it.
 

TwistingMyMelon said:
He was asked about returning a short time ago and reportedly replied that he wasn't sure and didn't know if his knees could take it.
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this is the biggest part. if his knees are going to be trash for the rest of his life and cause him pain that will be worsened by another year of ball, you move on. though to some extent i'm guessing he's already there. Fox seems like he'll be a great leader of people someday and it's great to see he's using his time here to complete some high level course work. can totally see either option for him and not blame him given him alluding to the amount of effort it takes him to keep doing this day in and out after all he's been through.
 

upnorthkid said:
this is the biggest part. if his knees are going to be trash for the rest of his life and cause him pain that will be worsened by another year of ball, you move on. though to some extent i'm guessing he's already there. Fox seems like he'll be a great leader of people someday and it's great to see he's using his time here to complete some high level course work. can totally see either option for him and not blame him given him alluding to the amount of effort it takes him to keep doing this day in and out after all he's been through.
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I feel the same way. I'm glad that he was able to play a season here, gave all he had, and I was able to watch him but his lifelong health comes first. I can also understand not wanting to remain in school any longer.
 

If he’s having fun and we can pay him close to a normal salary for a 26 year old, why not!? 😂😂
 


Gophers7633 said:
I mean I hope he comes back, but at what point does he want to start earning a living? He'll have already missed out on making money for 4 years if he comes back. If he can get like 50K or so in NIL it would make more sense, but I can't think he's getting that much.
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The ironic thing is that NIL as envisioned is perfect for him. Local kid. Energetic personality. Would be a great rep for any firm that bills itself as hard working and gets the job done. But the pay for play scheme it has turned into devalues him because he is not an all conference player.
 

Holy Man said:
The ironic thing is that NIL as envisioned is perfect for him. Local kid. Energetic personality. Would be a great rep for any firm that bills itself as hard working and gets the job done. But the pay for play scheme it has turned into devalues him because he is not an all conference player.
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Reusse alleges he had an NIL deal with a bank in Aberdeen and at one point was the only Gopher actually getting any NIL. Not sure if that's accurate.
 


The choice is stay with the Gophers one more year or hang it up on competitive basketball?

You can blow your knee out playing beer/rec league just as easily.

As others already stated well, you’ve got your whole life to work.

The factors (others have stated):
- if he’s in a lot of pain
- sick of the grind/wants to have more fun
- (possibly big one) if things go south at the end and lot of dudes leave … there’s no guarantee that 24-25 won’t be more like 22-23 than 23-24 and that ain’t no fun


End of the day he worded it wisely and he’s smart to wait and see how this season finishes and who commits to come back, first.
 



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