Chloe Parker refuses to be normal.
A freshman from Riverton, the Neosho County Panthers guard has outperformed her recruiting profile and become a critical cog for the 20th-ranked team in the country.
“You can’t recruit heart,” Neosho County head coach J.J. Davis said. “Some kids have it, some kids don’t. This kid has a big ticker and nothing bothers her.”
In high school, Parker was a three-sport star. She holds the Riverton school record for the 300-meter hurdles in track and was the point guard in basketball.
The third sport? Football.
“I always played with the boys at recess,” Parker said. “I told my mom I wanted to play football, and she was like, ‘absolutely not.’ My dad was all for it.”
Most girls that play football are kickers, relegated and protected to the lone non-contact role.
Not Chloe. She was a defensive back.
“I saw a picture of her where a guy caught a pass and she’s taking him straight to the ground,” Neosho County assistant coach Mark Childers said.
Riverton was a quality Class 2A football program during her time with the Rams.
“She was so tough,” Parsons High School offensive coordinator Devin Martinez, who had to scout her on film, said.
“People would see me on film and want to target me,” Parker said. “I didn’t take that. I was there to play. And it made me happy to be around the guys.”
While Riverton saw decent success in football, Parker’s basketball teams were average at best. Her senior year, the Rams went 10-11.
She didn’t have many colleges chasing her services on the hardwood. Neosho County was her first offer, and Fort Scott was the only other one to extend one.
“I knew this was my place,” Parker said of Neosho County. “The coaches were like family to me. I came to the camps. This was the right place.”
Parker stood out at summer camps the Panthers held for youth in the area.
“She came up to our camps in the summer, just a little kid out of Riverton,” Childers said. “But she shot really well and she always wanted to come here. She’s never nervous.”
Davis had no reservations giving the small, yet strong, guard from deep Southeast Kansas a roster spot.
“We knew we were going to offer her,” Davis said. “She’s a kid that we wanted. She fulfills our core values. Any kid that will choose me, I’ll choose back.”
It’s an epidemic — so many high school athletes from Southeast Kansas don’t last in college for various reasons. Chloe refuses to be another tally in that category.
“You just have to want it,” Parker said. “A lot of kids out of high school here don’t make it through the first year. They think it’s going to be easy, but it’s never easy. You have to push yourself past your limits.”
Davis credits Parker’s days playing football for helping her acclimation to college ball.
“We want tough kids,” Davis said. “We want kids that are OK with hitting each other. And we want kids that do the right things. Guys that play football, they’re normally pretty disciplined.”
Parker’s gridiron background made an immediate impact on a saturated roster.
“She’s almost too aggressive sometimes,” Childers said. “In the preseason, she was in football mode. Because it’s football season. And she’s a powerlifter, too. We’ve never had a girl bench like her.”
Neosho County’s high-octane system of platooning, coupled with a high volume of threes and press defense, unlocked Parker’s potential.
“I didn’t get the chance to play how I wanted to play,” Parker said. “If I called a play, my coach would call a different play. Here, J.J. gets on you in practice and loves you in games. In high school, they loved you in practice and got on you in games. I like it here.”
The freshman has become one of the key pieces for the Panthers. Parker is fourth on the team in scoring (9.5 points per game), second in rebounding (4.5) and shoots 40% from the floor — all in under 10 minutes per game (Tiara Hozumi, another point guard, plays the most minutes at 14.8).
“I didn’t know how I would do,” Parker said. “I didn’t know how well I could compete. But I knew I’d be the hardest worker and would do my best no matter what.”
Listed at 5-foot-6, Parker’s penchant for the boards has impressed the Panthers’ staff.
“What I like about her is her motor,” Childers said. “She rebounds really well. She sees the floor and just goes. If you’re in the way, so be it.”
Parker has also become one of the faces of the program — a Kansas kid with high energy on the floor and exuberant celebrations on the bench.
“She cares about other people’s happiness more than hers,” Davis said. “She serves other kids better than she serves herself. And that’s important to us.”
She’s not just the token Kansas kid sitting closer to the exit than the scorer’s table.
“She’s why Kansas kids are coming here,” Davis said. “They know they’ll have a shot to be a part of this program.”
Parker, and Neosho County, have their sights set on toppling the likes of Johnson County and Kansas City Kansas in pursuit of a KJCCC title this winter.
“She understands what a dynasty is and what a legacy is,” Davis said. “She’s learning how to win here and she really likes it.”
Finding her niche and outperforming expectations hasn’t satisfied Parker.
“Now, it’s time to get to the next level,” Parker said. “All I can do is be proud of myself and try to be humble. I’ve done what I can. Now that I’m here, I have to work to stay here.”
