C-M grad Parker bright spot for struggling Utes

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2000 | 10:33 a.m.

To hear Utah head coach Ron McBride tell it, the play of former Cimarron-Memorial High School star Arnold Parker has been one of the few bright spots during an otherwise disappointing 2-6 season for the Utes.

"He's fantastic ... a fantastic kid," McBride said. "He's a great team member. He's a very positive kid. When things get tough, like this year has been, you can count on him."

And McBride has been counting on the 6-foot-2, 209-pound redshirt freshman a lot this year.

Parker is listed as the starter at nickel back for the Utes. He has 42 tackles and one sack, has forced two fumbles and defensed three passes.

"When we brought him in here, we thought he'd be a weak outside linebacker," McBride said. "Then we thought about moving him to safety. But we had a problem at cornerback and we put him there and he's played well.

"That's where I see him now, as a cornerback. He can run like a deer."

Indeed, the 1998 Nevada Player of the Year who helped lead the Spartans to the state 4-A crown, Parker has been timed at 4.40 in the 40-yard dash and is the third fastest player on the Utes.

Considering his size, those are NFL-caliber numbers.

"He's got a lot of upside," McBride said.

"It's fun playing corner," Parker said. "You get to cover people and also try and make big plays. I enjoy it."

Parker said he'll probably be matched up Saturday against UNLV's top wide receiver, Nate Turner. The 6-2, 210-pound Turner is third in the Mountain West Conference in receiving with 79.5 receiving yards per game and is seventh in the MWC in scoring with seven touchdowns and two two-point conversions.

"He's a good player," Parker said. "He's big and physical and very talented. I'm looking forward to the challenge of going against him."

Parker said he is also looking forward to seeing a couple of his old prep teammates, UNLV defensive backs Toby Smeltzer and Ross Dalton.

"I hung out some with Toby during the summer," Parker said. "It'll be good to see those guys again. I've been kind of homesick a little lately."

Black underwent surgery on Oct. 22 to help repair two broken bones in his right hand. He missed last week's loss at Ole Miss and UNLV coach John Robinson hinted he was going to give Black a couple of more weeks to let his injured hand to heal better.

But Black was back practicing with a protective cast on the hand on Tuesday night at Rebel Park. There is no danger of the Clark High grad hurting the hand worse by playing. The main handicap will be trying to blot out the pain each time the hand gets whacked.

"He's done pretty much every activity (Tuesday night)," UNLV trainer Kyle Wilson said. "I would anticipate that he'll play this week."