Pargo confident he”ll get entry

Irving Bryant admits that most of what he says about Jeremy Pargo is tinged with a bit of bias.

But he also warns against reading anything into his comments, as slanted as they might seem, that would suggest Pargo is anything but a terrific get for Gonzaga University – as a person, as well as an indisputable basketball talent.

“He is the poster child for what you want, as a coach, in a player and in a son,” said Bryant, who coached Pargo as an assistant at Chicago’s Robeson High last season and has since taken over as the Raiders head coach. “He’s just a great kid. He’s warm, energetic and personable – one of those people who make you feel like you’ve known them for 20 years the minute you first meet them.”

Pargo, who signed his national letter of intent to play for the Bulldogs last fall, can play a little, too, as evidenced by the impressive numbers – 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game – he put up for Robeson as a senior last winter.

“He’s a physical guy, a typical Chicago guard with a big, thick body,” Bryant said of the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder, whose older brother, Jannero, plays for the NBA’s Chicago Bulls. “He can get to the basketball any time he wants, and he has the potential to be a really, really good defender.

“He’ll probably catch his brother in a few years.”

Since signing with GU, Pargo has become one of the greatest curiosities associated with Bulldogs basketball. From his status as a national-caliber recruit – courted by Illinois, Kansas and a host of other Midwestern basketball powers – to his inner-city upbringing and ongoing efforts to meet NCAA academic qualifying standards – Zags fans have been clamoring for information on the most highly touted high school recruit in the history of the program.

Tonight, they can get a first-hand look at Pargo’s considerable basketball talents when he puts them on display at the Barnstormin’ Tour 2005 all-star game that tips off at 7 at Spokane Falls Community College. Pargo, who was scheduled to fly into Spokane late Friday evening, will play with a group of local junior college and high school stars against a team of seniors from Division-I universities in the area, including former Gonzaga standout and predicted first-round NBA draft choice Ronny Turiaf.

Pargo signed with the Zags without having made an official on-campus visit and will be getting his first look at Spokane and the Pacific Northwest this weekend. Under NCAA rules, however, he will not be allowed to interact with GU boosters or benefactors at any time during his stay.

In addition, NCAA rules prohibit him from talking to Bulldogs coaches, players and administrators, unless he visits the GU campus on an unofficial visit at his expense.

Still, in a telephone interview earlier this week, Pargo said he is looking forward to making his Spokane basketball debut this weekend and hoping he can schedule an official visit to tour the GU campus later this summer after he has met NCAA academic requirements.

“I’m excited about being a Zag,” said Pargo, who was named the most valuable player at the ABCD All-American camp in Teaneck, N.J., last summer and went into his senior season ranked as a top-25 recruit, nationally, by several preseason college basketball publications.

“I know what they’ve done with their previous point guards there. I’m looking forward to getting an education, getting a lot of exposure on the basketball court and meeting a lot of good people.”

GU coach Mark Few, when asked to comment on Pargo’s signing last fall, called him “an unbelievable athlete.”

“He’s the kind of player who could have gone anywhere,” Few added at the time. “He’s a national-caliber recruit.”

But by the time Pargo signed with the Bulldogs, most of the big-name schools such as Illinois, Kansas, DePaul and Purdue had backed off, leaving Gonzaga and the University of San Francisco as his main suitors.

Bryant said he thought Pargo’s recruiting stock dropped a bit because of the 15-12 season Robeson endured last winter while playing, at times, with only six players.

“I don’t know how much you know about inner-city basketball in Chicago, but you can lose kids for a variety of reasons,” Bryant said. “And we lost seven of them.”

Which meant Pargo, the biggest player on the team at 6-2, was forced to play – without rest – at nearly every position on the floor and against every gimmick defense imaginable.

“I think his stock dropped because we had to have him out there on the floor all the time, and he had to play fatigued a lot of nights,” Bryant explained. “We couldn’t take him out, and you could see, at times, he was playing tired.

“But you know how scouts are. They come ready to see him score 30-35 points a game, dunk on everybody and throw in a bunch of 3s, and he just couldn’t do that.

“Along with everything else, he was always guarding the other team’s best scorer and their best defender was guarding him.”

It hurt, too, Bryant said, that Pargo was labeled an academic risk early on and has yet to qualify academically for a college scholarship.

Bryant claims that label is unjust, adding that he fully expects Pargo to come up with an ACT score and high school grade-point average high enough to meet the NCAA’s sliding scale for academic acceptance.

“There were rumors going out that he wasn’t going to qualify,” Bryant explained, “so the kid was afraid to take the test.”

According to Bryant, Pargo was “right there, knocking on the door” after finally taking his college boards last month.

“And he took them without prepping,” Bryant added. “He’ll take them again in June and this time we’re doing everything we can to help him out. We’re going to help him prep for the test and we’re making sure he’s in class every day.”

Pargo, too, is confident he will make the grade.

“It’s not as big a stretch as some people think it is,” he said. “I feel good about my chances right now. I’m doing a lot of different things to work toward qualifying, and if I keep doing what I’m doing right now, I’ll be in a Gonzaga uniform next year.”

Pargo has several options – prep school, junior college and, perhaps, even the NBA – if he doesn’t qualify for a Division-I scholarship, but insists he has yet to explore those avenues.

“Right now, I’m putting all my eggs in one basket,” he said. “(Not having qualified) hurt me in a way because all the big schools from the Midwest and East Coast all backed off.

“But it didn’t hurt me that much, because I found Gonzaga. And I think I made the right choice.”

Apparently, so does Bryant.

“He’s such a top quality kid, everybody – prep schools, junior college, whatever – will be willing to make a spot for him,” Bryant said. “But being an eternal optimist and man of faith, I believe he’ll get in.

“He’ll qualify, and then the rest of his success story will write itself after he gets to Gonzaga.”