Catching Up With VMI Freshman Guard Bubba Parham

VMI freshman guard and leading scorer Bubba Parham

LEXINGTON, VA--Despite a game-high 21 points from freshman guard Bubba Parham, Saturday's Southern Conference opener against Furman produced a less-than-desirable result for him as a freshman guard in his first conference game at Cameron Hall--an 87-57 loss to Furman.

Still, there is plenty of optimism that surrounds this young, but talented VMI team and a lot of it begins with the 5-11 freshman guard from Snellville, GA. Following Saturday's loss to Furman, Parham finds himself as one of top freshman players in the Southern Conference.

Parham comes into Thursday night's game against Wofford averaging 12.8 PPG and 3.8 RPG.

Parham is part of a roster of talented, young players that will experience plenty of ups and downs this season. Consider the Keydets lost by just 10 points on the road at VCU prior to Christmas, but then turned around and lost by 30 at home to Furman. The Keydets were also 20-point victors over a Presbyterian team that beat one one of the top teams in the Southern Conference, UNC Greensboro.

The Peach State native shot the ball well Saturday, and he might have been the one player on the Keydet roster that seemed un-intimidated when things started to go south for the Keydets in their SoCon opener.

"Early we executed the game plan and we knew that they scored in transition, so we tried to take that away and I think we did that, but after that they just started hitting shots," Parham said.

He was the one causing Furman the most problems all afternoon, however, despite the lopsided scoreline. Parham finished the contest connecting on 7-of-13 shots from the field, including 5-of-9 shots from beyond the arc.

But the humble young man was quick to defer credit as well to the youthful lineup surrounding him. That was impressive. Another thing that was impressive about Parham is that instead of going to the locker room or leaving the floor after the game, I noticed Parham continued to work on his shot, shooting free throws. He didn't have to do that of course, and I actually felt bad to interrupt his shooting following the game to get an interview. That's why he is going to be a good player for years to come in this league. His maturity beyond his years is noticeable.

"My teammates give me the ball in the right spots and in the right situations to be successful, and these are the same shots I have been shooting my whole life so nothing really changes confidence-wise. I am always confident and when my teammates give me the ball in the right spots it's my job to knock it down."'

One of the things Parham has been a part of in his first season at VMI is a culture change for Keydet basketball. VMI won just six games last season and have already claimed five victories this season. It would seem the Keydets are going to more than exceed last season's win total, and even though it was a 30-point loss Saturday, I saw what Parham and the Keydets have the potential to do in the future once they mature as a team. The culture and style of play is changing in Lexington, and that's a good thing.

It is getting back to what happened in the early-mid 1990's with Bart Bellairs and early in the regime of Duggar Baucom, where there seemed to be a breath of fresh air within the VMI basketball program. But Dan Earl is a little different than the aforementioned two. He preaches defense and loves shooters, and in Parham and others like Garrett Gilkerson and Austin Vereen, he has some good ones.

"It's a big key for us to be able to be able to progress together and the upper-classmen in the past have told me it's tough to handle the military aspect and all that by themselves, but we're really lucky that there are seven of us (freshmen) and we're going through all of it together and helps being able to talk to one another and each of us have kind of a common ground."

Like most players making the transition from high school to college basketball, Parham has picked up on the biggest difference between the two--speed of the game.

"The speed of the game is a lot different. You have to do everything in a split second and you can't think twice or someone's going to be up on you and so when you get an open shot you can't think twice or you are not going to get the shot off."

Parham is only part of the rejuvenation project ongoing at VMI. From interviewing the young man, I can tell you he is a high-character guy and he will be a player to watch for the next three years in Southern Conference basketball.