The University of Florida is inducting nine new members into its Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, including former Gators basketball star [autotag]Chandler Parsons[/autotag]. With the football team in need of an honorary Mr. Two Bits on Saturday against Missouri, the University Athletic Association asked Parsons if he wanted to give it a shot, and he gladly accepted.
Parsons spent four years with the Gators and finished with 1,452 points (15th all-time) and 859 rebounds (ninth). The Houston Rockets drafted him in the second round of the 2011 NBA draft with the 28th overall pick. His pro career was cut short due to injuries sustained in a 2020 car accident that was caused by a drunk driver, but he made good money over his nine seasons and now lives in California with his fiancé and 11-month-old daughter.
The entire family will be on the field when Parsons does his thing in the yellow shirt and orange and blue tie. It should be a fun moment for the couple before the two tie the knot the following weekend. Parsons has a lot going on right now, but he’s more than happy to stop by the Swamp to show his family what his college days were like.
“My (fiance) has never been back to Gainesville with me. She went to the University of Hawaii, so she really doesn’t understand about the SEC and how things operate,” Parsons said “I’m looking forward to showing them the ‘Swamp’ for the first time and showing them where it really all started for me; something that’s really been a constant for me my whole life. A grew up a fan, watching every University of Florida football and basketball game. And I will be a Gator until the day I die.”
The Gators and Tigers are set to clash at noon on Saturday, and CP will be out there bright and early to help lead the pregame festivities.
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