Josh Parks, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound running back from Chisago Lakes (MN) High who is one of the top rushers in the state, visited Minnesota last weekend as a preferred walk-on candidate.
Parks helped lead Chisago Lakes to a 8-2 mark, losing to eventual Class AAAAA runner-up Brainerd 35-20 in the second round of the playoffs. He rushed 126 times for 1202 yards with 16 rushing touchdowns and rushed for over 100 yards in nine of his ten games.
Gopher Hole caught up with Parks to learn the latest on his recruitment during an annual family vacation in Mexico.
Gopher Hole: I hate to ask about how warm it is, but how is the weather?
Josh Parks: Right now, it is about 70. It was getting up to about 85 in the day. It is real nice right now.
Gopher Hole: So, pretty similar to what we have here?
Josh Parks: (Laughing) I guess you could say that.
Gopher Hole: You visited Minnesota this past weekend. How was the visit?
Josh Parks: It was really good. I guess the biggest thing was my family was able to go down there and talk with Coach Kill and talk with the other coaches and see the facilities. They really enjoyed that. It made it a lot easier knowing that there is a level of comfort if I decided to choose Minnesota
Gopher Hole: You were planning on visit North Dakota next weekend. Is that still going to happen?
Josh Parks: They have a new coaching staff and what happened was I had a full ride with the previous coaching staff and now the new running back coach is going over film, so I guess I didn’t lose my full ride. The coach is still evaluating other kids right now, so as far as right now, nothing is permanent. The coach basically said that by the time I get back from Mexico, they should be able to tell me whether I still have a full ride and that is based on wanting me to take the official.
Gopher Hole: North Dakota State was in the mix and you were going to try to go up there. Is that still going to happen?
Josh Parks: No, I am not anymore. I talked to their coach and I guess that they had a few running back sign already, so they would just offer me a preferred walk-on and at the Division I-AA, with those schools, I am not looking at a walk-on there, so I kind of pushed them back.
Gopher Hole: Are you down to just Minnesota and North Dakota or are you looking at any other schools?
Josh Parks: No, that is correct, Minnesota and North Dakota.
Gopher Hole: What is going to be the main factor that is going to make you pick School A over School B?
Josh Parks: Really, right now it is the full ride at North Dakota. That is one of the big things knowing that you don’t really have to worry about the financial part of school, but ultimately, it is about where I fit best. Coach Kill is really running that program up at the “U” very well. I am impressed with what he has done over past three years. That is a big factor and I know that they are headed in a great direction, but really the one thing that is holding me back from verballing to the “U” is the full ride that I have at North Dakota, so I am going to take the official there and see how I like it and after that, I’ll be able to decided where I want to go.
Gopher Hole: The signing date is February 5th. Are you going to try to decide before then or would you sign that day? Have you thought that far yet?
Josh Parks: If I do take the official, which I am planning, I’ll be back on the 2nd. I think that I’ll be able to know by the 2nd or 3rd where I am going to attend school.
Gopher Hole: What all did you get a chance to see and do during your visit last weekend?
Josh Parks: A lot of it was facilities. We saw the weight room. We saw the dorms. We saw the class rooms and another big thing was being able to spend quality time the players. Basically after 6:30, after we were done touring and talking to the coaches, we got to spend time with the players and it was good to be able to ask them questions without all the coaches surrounding them. It kind of opened them up and basically see what they do on a normal day.
Gopher Hole: Did you have a specific host for the weekend?
Josh Parks: Cavonte Johnson.
Gopher Hole: He is a local kid who was a walk-on, too. Was that nice since you probably got to learn from his experiences?
Josh Parks: It was. I actually asked him about that and he was honest with me and he said that the coaches don’t treat you any differently if you are a walk-on or if you are scholarship player. He said that the biggest thing that he earned the respect at football at the “U” is how hard you work. It doesn’t matter if you are a scholarship or a walk-on, it matters how hard you are going to work. After hearing that, it made me realize that even though I will be a walk-on, it is not like it is a horrible thing. It is just another thing that makes you work a little bit harder.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, every school has this, but I am sure that the coaches or someone brought up that several players who are key players for the team who started out as a walk-ons?
Josh Parks: Oh, yes. Exactly. One of the big examples that they like to use is Aaron Hill. We had a chance to talk with him. He came out and told us about his experience and how he has gotten to where he is. The thing about it is some people mature faster than others in high school and some people do this and that in high school, but what really matters is how hard you are willing to work in college and how much time you are going to devote to football. I think that is how you become successful. I know that if I do it and decide to attend the University of Minnesota, I will be able to receive a scholarship. That is not too big of an issue for me at this point of my decision.
Gopher Hole: Have you thought about a possible major in college?
Josh Parks: Something around Business or Business Marketing. That is what I am deciding right now. I have changed that plan a few times in the past. As of right now, Business Marketing, but it could change within the next year or two.
Gopher Hole: What would it mean to maybe play for the home state school?
Josh Parks: You know, I have been actually asked that question a lot and recently, I have been sitting down and I have been thinking about it because my brother asked me that. You grow up watching that team that you are accustomed to watching and grew up with and it almost seems surreal to have an opportunity to play for them. Being able to play for that team would be a dream come true. Knowing that at one point of your life that you couldn’t even imagine it and now, you have the opportunity, so it would be great if I could do that.
Gopher Hole: How about your senior year? How pleased where you with how things went this season?
Josh Parks: We didn’t make it to state, which is the ultimate goal. Making it to state and then hopefully, winning it. Even though we didn’t get to state, there were still positives that you can take out of it. I think that this year, our team had so much chemistry and the thing about us was that we weren’t very big and we weren’t the fastest team, but we worked so hard together and I think that is one of the biggest things we can take from this season was working together and pushing until the game was over, even if we knew that we didn’t have a chance to win at the end. We were a very charismatic team, so I think that we pushed at the end.
Gopher Hole: I know that when we talked this summer you had talked about possibly playing basketball. Obviously, you didn’t do that, but are you still planning on running track this spring?
Josh Parks: You know, I was thinking about it, but now I know that either school I go to, whether it is the University of Minnesota, I go to camp June 7th, I think it is or if I go to North Dakota, I am going to enroll early for summer school classes, so this year I am actually going to do Explode. It is a speed and agility program that is held in North Branch, which is about ten minutes from my school. The reason that I am doing that is that I want to focus on more football-related exercises than track does. I am also going to be attending track practices the days that I don’t have Explode.
Gopher Hole: What other things are you going to be working on besides that to get ready to play at that next level?
Josh Parks: I have been talking to Coach Anderson a lot at the “U” and mostly my awareness when I am watching film. He told me at that high of a level, it is not about how athletic you are, because everyone is going to be athletic. It is the detail that you can pay attention to film in a week and take out of the film. I think that I am going to go back and look at my high school film and try to really watch the defense and try to be able to read a defense better on film, so that I can become a better athlete in the backfield.