GUARDING THE FUTURE
Tony Parham returns to complete degree, help the youth
Tony Parham is a behavior specialist and wants to continue working in education to help the youth in his area. (Contributed photo)
Tony Parham first came to East Carolina University on an athletic scholarship in 1994. This fall, he completed his degree, and he plans to use what he’s learned to help the youth in his home state of Maryland.
Parham, a guard on the basketball team during head coach Joe Dooley’s first tenure at ECU, studied exercise and sports science, and wanted to become a physical education teacher and coach. He recalls the great home court advantage created by the then-newly renovated Minges Coliseum and its fans, and in particular a rollercoaster sequence against George Mason.
“We were winning the entire game until I made a turnover that led to them going up by one,” he said. “I raced down the court with 5 seconds remaining and banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win the game. The crowd rushed the court and it was the best feeling ever.”
Like his former coach, Parham has returned for a second stint at ECU.
Today, Parham — who was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C., in 2016 — is married with kids and works as a behavior specialist at an alternative school in his home state of Maryland. Due to COVID-19, he began working from home last spring, and after he completed some painting and other projects at the house, his wife suggested he look into going back to school to finish his degree.
In December, he’ll graduate with a Bachelor of Science in University Studies with a thematic core of educational services and human behavior. He plans to stay in the field of education and continue working to improve the lives of youth in his area.
Parham was a guard for the ECU basketball team in the mid-1990s. (Athletics archive photo)
“I’m very happy for Tony and extremely proud of him,” Dooley said. “It’s not easy to come back and finish. As a coach you want to see all of your guys graduate, but to see him return after all these years and fulfill his lifelong goal of being a college graduate is very special.”
Parham credited Nita Boyce, assistant athletics director for student development, with helping him adjust to distance education.
“I’m a dinosaur when it comes to education,” he said. “The things they do now with online learning weren’t available when I was in school. Any question I have, I pick up the phone and give Nita a call.”
Parham has fond memories of his time at ECU and of life as a student.
“I made lifelong friends, and the experiences were priceless,” he said. “The people in Greenville and ECU welcomed me with open arms, and I am so grateful for that.”