Clinton retires Steve Parillon’s '44' shirt!
Parillon was presented with his #44 framed jersey with his All-American certificate during half time of the Clinton vs Iowa Lakes game. Head coach Joe Shovlain presented the jersey to the former player after which, Parillon give a short speech to the fans.
"It is a great honour to have my jersey retired and to be back in Clinton, I had great memories playing for you fans, and now I am trying my best to keep the relationship going between the Virgin Islands players and Clinton Community College again. Thanks again for this honour and good luck with the rest of the season" Parillon stated.
Clinton Community College is experiencing an invasion from the Virgin Islands this year, with four players who call the Islands home on the Cougars basketball team.
The Cougars (5-13) have struggled at times this season but pulled off one of their biggest wins in years on January 16 against Des Moines Area Community College. It has also been a struggle at times for the Islanders adjusting to life in the Midwest.
“I never heard of Clinton,” sophomore Charles Pemberton said. “It was different. On the drive from the airport, there were a lot of farms, corn, and cows. You don’t see any of that in the Islands.”
Pemberton played in the United States last season, suiting up for Moberly (Mo.) Area Community College, so he had a leg up in one area on freshmen Kimani Stevens, Dione Blyden and BeeJay Caleb.
“Last year, I was totally unprepared,” Pemberton said. “All I had was T-shirts and short pants. The first couple times it snowed, I went out in my slippers. My socks got soaked. I was so cold. I learned. This year, I got boots and winter wear.”
In 2000 previous coach of Clinton Bob Walker made the trip to the VI to scout players with Parillon and Dwayne "Cobo" Penn becoming the first two VI players that made the trip to Iowa to play for the Cougars.
In the next couple of years three other VI players including Kennedy Bass, Halsted "JR" Chiverton, and Rene Phipps also made their way to Iowa to play for Clinton.
All the VI players played significant roles for Clinton, but it was Parillon who gained national recognition by leading the state of Iowa in scoring both years, earning All-Region First team both years, and becoming the sixth All-American at Clinton Community College. After Clinton Parillon continued his college career at Henderson state University where he earned All conference for two years leading the Reddies to a conference championship earning MVP honours. After Henderson State, Parillon became the first VI player to play in Europe, playing alongside NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman.
After playing six years in Europe, Parillon returned to the VI to run the Hoop it up foundation where he has now helped place several young men and women into American institutions, including four players at Clinton.
“Tonight's honour was not about Steve Parillon, this honour was all about the BVI and those young men from the Virgin Islands that witness the presentation. It was very special to have four of my players from Clinton and two from Sauk Valley Community College who came from Illinois to share this moment with me” stated Parillon “It's all about these young men and the motivation they got from my accomplishments because they are the future of the BVI. I cut my pro playing career short to return to the BVI to help these youth, it was a tough decision, but now watching these young men enjoy their college careers, I have no regrets and it brings great joy to me.”
Parillon became the second VI player to receive prestige honours at their past college institutions joining Keith "88" Malone who was inducted into Westchester Sports Hall of Fame in New York in 2010. The VI may not have a NBA player, but they are being represented very well all over the globe with several college and prep school players in America, and Randy George and Kleon Penn playing pro basketball in France and Venezuela respectively.
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