Texas High’s Leonard Parks Receives First Offer From Southern Illinois

With his junior year of high school winding down, Texas High defensive end Leonard Parks will head into the summer break with at least one Division I scholarship offer.

But probably more.

Parks announced via Twitter that Southern Illinois became the first Division I program to offer him on Wednesday.

Parks (6-5, 230) shined at Sunday's ETSN Combine at APEC in Tyler.

On his way to earning honorable mention recognition in his position group, Parks was one of only four defensive linemen to record sub-5.0 times in the 40-yard dash, put up 12 bench press reps of 225 pounds, and recorded an impressive 34-inch vertical leap, which was good enough for fourth-best among all 87 of the event's participants.

Parks was instrumental in helping Texas High to its first 10-0 regular season since 2006. The Tigers' defense limited opponents to just 13.2 points per game in 2016.

Texas High will be under new leadership this fall as former White Oak and Flower Mound Marcus head coach Gerry Stanford replaces longtime Tigers boss Barry Norton, who took the job at crosstown rival Arkansas High after 18 seasons at Texas High.

Southern Illinois, an FCS program that competes in the Missouri Valley Conference, is coached by Nick Hill. The Salukis were 4-7 in 2016.

Parks will become eligible to sign with any program that offers him in December.