Big Sky Basketball: In-depth look at Idaho State star big man Brayden Parker
By Bryan Mauro
Expectations for Brayden Parker in 2023-24
The grad transfer big man from Idaho State decided to stay in Pocatello for his final year of eligibility. Would he have been able to play at a bigger school if he decided to enter the transfer portal? I don’t know and we will never know because he never entered the portal. I do know that Parker is going to be recognized as a first-team All-Big Sky performer. He is also going to leave Pocatello as one of the better Bengals to ever play for the program.
The big man has seen an improvement in his numbers every year that he has gotten significant minutes for Idaho State and this year is not going to be any different. No one is going to expect the big man to be at his best when he set an Idaho State record by going 11-11 from the floor for his career-high 28-point performance. That is the ceiling, but the floor is going to be a guy who goes 5-10 from the floor, gets to the line around 4 times per game, and scores 12-15 points every night. Given that Idaho State doesn’t play fast and they try and slow the game down, the Bengals do not have many possessions to work with. That is why an efficient player in that offense is so good.
Parker finally has had some guys graduate this year which is going to leave him an easier path to the first-team all-conference. He should have already received that honor but when you play on a team that isn’t very good the recognition is hard to come by. Even with all of that, the big man has still been on the honorable mention and he was given a third-team all-conference selection last season after a great season.
The big man likely finishes up this season of basketball and will have a chance to play overseas but it would take a lot for Parker to get a look from an NBA team even for the summer league. Idaho State is going to need Parker to take his game to the next level in order to reach the goals they are hoping for.
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Outside of Parker the only returning player who is going to be a focal point of the game plan is guard Miguel Tomley. Tomley and Parker are going to be enough to keep Idaho State in most games and it will be enough in the Big Sky. There is zero reason to believe that the Bengals will finish outside the top 4 in the Big Sky but they are not going to do much nationally.