Utah’s Parker to celebrate homecoming Saturday

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2001 | 9:54 a.m.

As a youth growing up in Las Vegas, Arnold Parker rarely attended football games at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"I was usually was too busy playing my own games," Parker said Tuesday. "And I really didn't watch a lot of college football until I got here."

"Here" is the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. And Saturday afternoon, Parker, named the Nevada player of the year in 1998 after helping Cimarron-Memorial High to back-to-back state titles, returns to his hometown as one of the leaders of a Ute defense that leads the Mountain West Conference and is ranked 17th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 17.9 points per game.

"I've been waiting for this for two years," the 6-foot-2, 210-pound sophomore said. "It's going to be cool coming home and playing in front of some of my friends and family."

Depending on which defensive alignment the Utes elect to play against the Rebels, Parker will start the game either at strong safety or nickel back. He's the third-leading tackler on the squad with 38, including four for a loss, and has two pass breakups.

"I expect Arnold Parker to be the best safety in the league," Utah coach Ron McBride said before the season.

When asked how Parker was doing this week, McBride replied, "Fantastic. He's a great kid who works very hard out there every day."

Parker, who starred at running back and linebacker for the Spartans, took a recruiting trip to UNLV but eventually picked the Utes over Oregon.

"Salt Lake City is a different kind of place," said Parker, a sociology major who wants to be a football coach one day. "It's certainly not Las Vegas. It took a while to get used to. I'm not around my folks and stuff, which is hard at times. But I also thought it would be good for me to get away a little and learn to live on my own."

Besides, the Utes do visit Las Vegas every other year for games against the Rebels.

"I came down there two years ago to watch the game when I was redshirting," Parker said. "But this will be a lot more fun because I'll be playing. And I can't wait."

None of the three took part in practice on Tuesday.

"They're all pretty much day-to-day," Wilson said. "I think Costa will try and practice (today). Anton and Greg didn't practice. Maybe (today). More than likely they'll try to practice on Thursday and see how they feel. It will probably be a game day decision on those two."

Freshman tailback Dominique Dorsey (sprained ankles) took part in Tuesday's workout and is expected to see some action against the Utes.