PEORIA, Ill. – Former Bradley Basketball star Anthony Parker, who recently retired after a 16-year professional playing career, will be inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame during halftime of the Nov. 12 men's basketball game at Renaissance Coliseum.
In addition to the Hall of Fame induction ceremony at halftime of the game versus Texas-Pan American, Parker will be the featured guest at the season's first Braves Club Gameday Luncheon, presented by Herget Bank, earlier that day in the Michel Student Center.
Parker was the 1996 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year as a junior, leading the Braves to the regular-season league title and an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. In the first-round game of the 1996 NCAA Tournament against Stanford, Parker drained 8-of-10 3-point field goal attempts in a 34-point effort.
One of 15 Braves selected to the Bradley Basketball Team of the Century, Parker ranks ninth in program history with 1,683 career points. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard was a three-time All-MVC selection, earning second team notice in 1995 and first-team in honors in 1996 and 1997.
The 21st overall selection in the 1997 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets, Parker was traded on draft night to Philadelphia, where he began his pro career. After three injury-plagued seasons with the 76ers and Orlando Magic, Parker took his game overseas and became a star with Maccabi Tel Aviv, helping the team to five Israeli Premier League championships from 2001-06, as well as five Israeli Cups and three Euroleague titles (2001, 2004 and 2005). A two-time Euroleague MVP, Parker was named one of the top 50 players in the 2007-08 celebration of 50 years of European Club basketball.
Parker returned to the NBA in 2006 by signing a free agent contract with the Toronto Raptors and he had been one of the league's most-accurate 3-point shooters the last six seasons. In total, Parker played in 494 NBA games, including 423 starts, averaging 9.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 27.8 minutes per game. He drained 40.4 percent (596-1,474) of his career 3-point field goal attempts and he scored 4,717 regular-season and playoff points.
In addition to his statistical numbers, Parker won the Atlantic Division's 2007 NBA Sportsmanship Award in a league-wide vote of players. He played the final three seasons in his nine-year NBA career for the Cleveland Cavaliers, teaming with LeBron James for the NBA's best regular-season record in 2009-10.
Parker announced his retirement this summer and recently joined the scouting department for the Orlando Magic.
Tickets for the Nov. 12 men's basketball game versus Texas-Pan American currently are available for purchase by Carver Arena season-ticket holders ($15 each), as well as Bradley University students ($1), faculty and staff ($10). Tickets for the on-campus game will go on sale to the general public Oct. 12 for $20 each.
Tickets for Braves Club Gameday Luncheons, presented by Herget Bank, are $20 for Braves Club members and $25 for non-members for each of the four luncheons and may be purchased in advance by contacting the Braves Club Office at 309-677-2667. The complete Braves Club Gameday Luncheon schedule will be announced later this fall.
