Terell Parks has experienced quite the basketball journey.

It all started on the courts of Beloit, Wisconsin and continued through Iowa Central and Western Illinois.

At the moment, Parks is a member of the Nizhny Novgorod team, a member of the VTB United League based out of Russia. 

Since 2013, Parks has competed overseas for a handful of teams. In 2018, he was named the FIBA Europe Cup Best defender and twice was the Cypriot League top rebounder. 

"Being able to compete overseas is amazing, the fans are unreal first off," Parks said. "There are games that I've played in that had thousands of fans and they were yelling, lighting off flares and fireworks, banging on drums and air horns. It's nothing like I've ever seen before but I love it.

"The style of play is different as well. I would say it's a higher level of college ball with bigger, stronger, faster, smarter players. Practices vary depending on your coach and also the leagues that you're playing in. If you're playing a few times per week then practices are usually short and less. If you are playing once per week then you probably would have one practice a day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and maybe two on Tuesday and Thursday for shooting and weights in the morning."

Parks earned accolades competing for the Tritons from 2009-11, including becoming an NJCAA All-American. He played under former Iowa Central head coach Dennis Pilcher, current head coach and former assistant Chad Helle, and former assistant Ryan O'Hern.

" I believe my time at ICCC was very important because it gave me the opportunity to find myself on and off the court," Parks said. "It was the right choice for me because it gave me the opportunity to learn in all aspects of life as well as on the court from Coach Pilcher, Coach Helle and Coach O'Hern my two years at ICCC. I met a lot of great people that I built friendships with and had some great experiences that will last a lifetime."

In 2017, Parks helped Keravnos claim the Cypriot League title. 

"Winning the championship in Cyprus and being named finals MVP was pretty dope," Parks said, "and then on to winning player of the year. The next season I won FIBA Europe Cup defensive player of the year."

Like most around the sports world, Parks has been dealing with COVID-19. 

"COVID-19 affected my season because we were in the middle of playoff series for Basketball Champions League (BCL) to make it to the Top-8," Parks said. "In a best-the-three series we were playing a team from France and had lost the first game in France. They had just came to our place and we evened the series.

"Right before we were going back to France the decision came for the leagues to suspend all play and that's when they started to let the foreign players go back to there home countries. Now I'm home in Wisconsin spending time with my family and staying home, but also trying to stay in shape for basketball.

"I do some home workouts and go for a run at the park near my house. It's tough to say when COVID-19 will pass but I try to encourage people to stay home and social distance as much as possible."