Bubba Parham would like a chance to be a bigger part of an offense. But the Georgia Tech guard, who put his name into the transfer portal Wednesday, hasn’t closed the door on coming back to play his final season of eligibility with the Yellow Jackets.
“It’s nothing against Georgia Tech at all,” Parham said of his decision to go in the portal in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I just entered the portal just to look around, see if there’s any other opportunities that I like that I think would be beneficial. I don’t know any type of direction on what things are going to be for the future right now. I’m still up in the air with it.”
With the Jackets, Parham averaged 5.2 points per game as a junior and then 6.7 points as a senior in 2020-21, helping Tech win its first ACC championship since 1993. While undoubtedly fulfilling, it was a significant drop-off from the production and offensive role that he had in his two seasons at VMI, when he averaged 18.1 points per game and led the Southern Conference in scoring (21.4 points per game) as a sophomore.
While he has not committed himself to leaving Tech for certain, a larger offensive role would be a significant draw for him. It likely would be a boost for his professional aspirations.
“Just looking for somewhere where I can just have a bigger role offensively is what I would say if I was to go in another direction,” Parham said.
It’s not every transfer-portal situation that the originating team would leave the door open for a player in the portal. But at the same time, coach Josh Pastner will be recruiting out of the portal – Tech has four scholarships available – and his return likely would have to be a decision that both sides agree on.
Parham said that since Wednesday, he had heard from “a bunch of schools” at the mid-major level with interest in him as a transfer, but declined to name any of the schools. Given that he has proved himself as a scorer and also contributed successfully to an ACC championship team, it would be no surprise that he would draw interest.
Parham said that he is not in a hurry to make a decision, but doesn’t want to drag it out, either.
If he does choose to transfer, Parham, a Brookwood High graduate, said it would be ideal to stay close to home, at least in the Southeast. Parham and his girlfriend Deja Lee have a son Magic who turns 2 in July. But Parham also is open to going wherever the best opportunity might be.
Parham has one season of eligibility if he receives his medical hardship waiver, which would seem a formality. This season was to be his extra COVID-19 year, but he appeared in only two games because of a knee injury sustained in the preseason. Parham said the paperwork was sent out Thursday, “so we should be getting an answer shortly.”
Parham also said he has been medically cleared and has been playing pickup basketball with friends. He had tried to come back from the injury, a torn meniscus in his right knee, in early January but experienced significant pain, and then his knee did not respond to treatment in ensuing days. He and Pastner decided for him not to play the remainder of the season, thus protecting the possibility to receive a waiver for the next season.
“It feels good,” he said. “I feel like I’m, if not back to my old self, I’m getting really close to being my old self. I feel really good. It’s a great sign.”
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