KEATON PARISH-EUFAULA
Grant Callison is the new sheriff in town to head up the Eufaula Ironhead basketball program, and he comes into a pretty nice situation. A team that was 18-9 a year ago returns two starters to keep up the momentum. One of those is Keaton Parish (6-2, Sr.), a VYPE TOP 100 player who the new coach lauded.
“Keaton is one of the best kids I’ve ever been around. He is a truly selfless player and teammate. I believe his stats (11 points and six rebounds per game) are a reflection of that as I think he could easily have scored more. I think he is just scratching the surface of his potential. He’s strong, athletic and shoots the ball well. His strengths are his mid-range jumper and his ability to slash to the basket but he’s also a good 3-point shooter. I think this year we’ll see an even higher level of Keaton,” said Callison. “I wish I had 15 more of him both character and basketball ability-wise. When you have that kind of combination in a player, it’s pretty easy to get the rest of the team on board.”
For Keaton, he had a pretty good role model that helped him learn basketball.
“I’ve played basketball for as long as I can remember and grew up watching my brother Alex play. He’s always been the biggest influence in my life, and I’ve always wanted to play basketball like him,” said Keaton. “My dad who taught me and Alex basketball has also been a big influence in my life. We’ll watch game footage, and he’ll critique me and tell me what I need to do. The same is true for my uncle Andy and they both offer a lot of great life advice as well.”
He’s also excited about the new coach for the Ironheads.
“I love that he’s super competitive and he trusts all of us. He’s very approachable and easy to talk with. He told us early on that he thinks that even without the addition of our football players who weren’t with us yet, that we had enough talent to be a state semifinals team and that’s exciting that he feels that confident in us.”
In terms of season goals, Keaton is all about the team.
“Team is more important to me than individual goals so getting to state is a big goal for me. It would be nice to reach the 1000 point mark this year and maybe make All-State.”
Church life is also important to Keaton. He attends Lighthouse Church in Eufaula where his grandfather is the pastor, and his dad is the associate pastor while Keaton plays drums in the band and preaches on occasion.
Life after high school is still uncertain, but he knows the kind of legacy he would like to leave.
“When I got to high school all the players told me what a great teammate and fun guy Alex was and so I’d like to be remembered the same way.”
