Former WPIAL Star Posts Best Game for Big East Team

Royce Parham has earned early minutes for Shaka Smart’s Marquette Golden Eagles as a freshman.

The former North Hills star posted his best game of the season on Monday night in a win over Central Michigan out of the MAC. In the game, Parham played 13 minutes, going 3 for 5 from the field for nine points. He also grabbed two rebounds, blocked two shots, and earned two steals in the victory for Marquette. Parham went 2 for 3 from the free-throw line.

The 6-foot-8, 230-pound freshman has earned playing time in each of Marquette’s three games so far, including a season-high 18 minutes of action in the win over Stony Brook. In that game, he posted a two-point, three-rebound, two-steal stat line for the Golden Eagles.

Royce Parham with Shaka Smart (Marquette head coach) during Parham’s recruitment while in high school.

Parham was a two-time member of the All-State team while playing for North Hills in the WPIAL. He spent three seasons there, averaging 28 points and ten rebounds per game as a junior in 2022-23. He then decided to leave Pittsburgh to attend Western Reserve Academy in Ohio for his senior campaign. Despite the big loss to the Pittsburgh hoops community, it seems as though Parham’s development has come along nicely as he is already seeing minutes in close, late-game action of Division One basketball as a freshman.

Parham finished high school as the No. 93 player in the nation, and a four-star prospect. He would have been the No. 5-ranked player in Pennsylvania had he stayed for his senior season. He finished as the No. 3 player in Ohio, per 247 Sports.