4/13/2020 football Edit

In-state check-in: 2021 defensive back DeVauntaye Parker

Jon McNamara • BadgerBlitz

Editor

Jon McNamara is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has covered UW athletics since 2002 and has worked at Rivals.com since 2006.

Menomonie High School, a Division 3 football program will an enrollment of under 1,000 students, is tucked away in the northwestern part of the state.

But the Mustangs have produced a good amount of scholarship talent over the last few recruiting cycles, a list that includes Nathan Stanley, Mason Stokke, Alex Fenton, Mason Platter and Andrew Fenton, among others.

Next up at Menomonie: DeVauntaye Parker, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound defensive back who recently picked up offers from Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota Duluth and Upper Iowa.

Junior safety DeVauntaye Parker has offers from Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota-Duluth and Upper Iowa. (Darren Lee/BadgerBlitz.com Photographer)

"I got my first three offers from Minnesota Duluth, Upper Iowa and Concordia-St. Paul," Parker told BadgerBlitz.com. "Besides those schools I’ve been in close contact with North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota, Minnesota Moorhead, Bemidji State, Southwest Minnesota State, Winona State and Illinois State. Those schools have been contacting me the most.

"The offers boosted my confidence but it also remind me that I’m not the only one getting these offers, so now I’m just pushing myself harder than ever."

Parker, a first-team all-conference running back in 2019, projects best to safety at the college level. He visited Wisconsin unofficially last fall.

"I loved it there," Parker said. "All the coaches were very inviting and I got a good game-day experience. They stopped by to check on me during the school year and I was planning on attending their camp this summer. But, obviously, with this pandemic many schools cancelled those type of things."

If and when recruiting visits are allowed to resume, Parker, who previously took in junior days at Illinois State and South Dakota, is eyeing trips to two out-of-state schools.

"North Dakota and North Dakota State - I’m really looking forward to those," Parker said. "It's pretty tough not to be able to take visits because I planned for a busy spring and summer. But now it’s probably going to be a lot different.

"I'm looking for schools that have a great program for what I want to major in and also if they care for their players. I’m from a small town and I like that type of lifestyle, so a school kind of like that."