DURHAM, NC —What a difference a year in the HBCU basketball world has made for North Carolina Central’s Issac Parson.
A year ago he was playing for Cleo Hill Jr. and with KC Shaw at Winston-Salem State, hoping to defend its CIAA title. Saturday Parson faced off against Shaw and Hill with all three wearing maroon instead of red as Maryland-Eastern Shore came down to Durham to face Parson and his new squad.
The competition between the two teammates was definitely real on the court. Shaw swatted away a would-be layup by his former point guard, and Parson later took on the challenge of guarding a much-taller Shaw. Both players’ families made the trip to the sparingly attended game on a cold, icy weekend.
Ultimately, though, the night belonged to Parson and NCCU. The home team raced off to a dominant start and finished with an 88-66 win for its MEAC victory of the season. Parson had one of his more complete games of the season, scoring 13 points while registering five assists (and just two turnovers) and two steals as he got the better of his former teammate and head coach.
“I thought it was going to be more of a competition. But we’ll see them next time,” said Parson, who played three years under Hill and two with Shaw. “It was good seeing KC — KC’s been doing. I hope he stays healthy, keep doing good. It was fun, definitely.”
Shaw scored 15 points, tying for the team with his brother Kyrell Shaw. A year ago, that would have been a promising game for the 6’5 guard as a sophomore at WSSU. Shaw saw his average jump from under five points as a freshman to just under 11 a game last year. But after following Hill to the Division I HBCU in June, Shaw went from the third option to no. 1, and he came into the game averaging a MEAC-high 18 points. However, through the first 20 minutes of the game, Shaw was held without a bucket.
North Carolina Central coach LeVelle Moton made it clear that limiting Shaw was a key part of his team’s plan coming into the game.
“He’s a really good player,” Moton said. “We had to take it personally.”
Head to Page Two to read about Parson’s development at NCCU.