‘Finally smiling again’: CIF rules basketball star Kiku Parker eligible for Grant Pacers
Kiku Parker Sr. tried to pull a fast one on his son, Kiku Jr., who hasn’t been in much of a playful mood lately.
On Tuesday afternoon, the elder Parker told his son, a Grant High School senior, the family’s legal fight with the CIF to reinstate him as a basketball player was not a success.
But he was kidding. It was a success.
Parker Jr. won his appeal hearing with the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section, which ruled last month the 2021 All-Metro guard and college scholarship prospect was ineligible to compete this season. Section officials determined Grant used undue influence/recruiting tactics to land the star guard when he transferred from El Camino High School, allegations Grant coach Deonard Wilson vehemently denied.
The 6-foot Parker Jr. is now cleared to play immediately for the two-time defending section champion Pacers, his first game coming Dec. 23.
“Kiku came home from practice, and I told him it didn’t go well,” Parker Sr. said. “His heart was really hurting and there were more tears. Then I told him I was kidding, and then he gave me the tightest hug, and more tears. I’m just so happy and so pleased for my good son. At some point, the good guy had to win. We’ve been on the defensive for months, an attack on his character, his integrity, and I’m so thankful that the CIF hearing saw it our way.”
The Parker family has stated to the CIF from the start that they pulled their son out of El Camino at the end of the last academic year and enrolled him at Grant mostly because of a failed relationship between the player and Eagles coach Mamo Rafiq. The relationship was increasingly “toxic,” the family and player explained to The Bee and in a Dec. 6 hearing with CIF State officials.
Parker Jr.’s parents said they had no choice but to leave El Camino. The family detailed in the CIF meeting that Rafiq verbally attacked their son, removed him from the team, and stripped him of his jersey and his captaincy in a tournament almost a year ago this week.
Parker Jr. was a three-year starter at El Camino, where he set career scoring marks in making The Bee’s All-Metro teams his sophomore and junior seasons. Rafiq has not spoken to The Bee on the topic, although he successfully campaigned for Parker Jr. to be named All-Metro and Capital Athletic League MVP last season.
The Parker family has pointed out Parker Jr. grew up in Del Paso Heights, home of the Grant Pacers. His parents also attended Grant. In short, Parker Jr. wanted to return to his home roots. He might have considered finishing at El Camino had he received an apology, the family said.
“This was 100% personal for Mamo against my son,” Parker Sr. said. “To this day, my family — Kiku — has not received an apology from coach Rafiq, for embarrassing him when he kicked him off the team, for bullying him. Words really stick. I explained in the CIF hearing that my son was voted homecoming king, and a 16-year old doesn’t just walk away from that and a school where kids loved him. But he had to go.”
The CIF hearing officer’s conclusion statement, which was emailed to the Parkers and family attorney Luke P. Apfeld, was titled, “The request for waiver of State CIF Eligibility Transfer Penalty.” The hearing officer heard hours of Zoom testimony from the Parkers, Grant coaches and administrators, and those from El Camino, including Rafiq and Linda Simlick, general counsel for the San Juan Unified School District.
The CIF hearing officer in his report detailed how the Parker family made a valid change of residence in the Natomas Unified School District. The Parkers were granted a transfer waiver to attend Grant of the Twin Rivers Unified School District. Rafiq and El Camino administrators last spring informed the CIF of speculation at El Camino that Parker Jr. was going to “transfer to either Grant or Inderkum,” according to hearing testimony.
The issue was whether or not there was “pre-enrollment contact” by Grant, a violation of CIF rules. The CIF hearing officer in the final assessment said there was pre-contact between Grant coaches and the Parker family, but it was tied to the family’s “general involvement in the local sports community (and) this pre-enrollment contact did not violate CIF Bylaw 510.”
Finally, in the “Decision” portion of the CIF findings, the state’s governing body for California high school sports wrote: “The State Hearing Officer grants the appeal filed by Kiku Parker Sr. on behalf of Kiku, who is granted immediate unlimited eligibility at Grant High School.”
Parker Sr. said he was moved by the community support. This included students from rival schools wearing T-shirts that read, “FREE KIKU”. Grant football players wore that shirt under their uniforms Saturday when they won the CIF Division III-AA state championship game.
Derrek Lee, a multi-sport star at El Camino in the early 1990s who had a long Major League Baseball career, also expressed outrage, telling The Bee last week, “This is a kid. Sitting him down for his entire senior season sends the wrong message. There would be no winners here.”
Former NBA player Matt Barnes, a multi-sport star at Del Campo in the late 1990s, also expressed anger on the Parker saga on social media. As did Kings star guard De’Aaron Fox when he tweeted above The Bee’s story on this case last week, “The people over high school sports in just about every state are the most confusing people to understand…like what point are you trying to prove??”
“I can’t express my gratitude for the support from Sacramento, their concern, and how much people cared,” Parker Sr. said. “I was so concerned with my son’s mental health, his self esteem. He’s finally smiling again. Now, he’s ready to go.”
“The right thing happened,” Apfeld said. “The CIF hearing officer made the right decision. We wanted to put forth our evidence to someone with an open mind, and we felt that if we got the evidence to them, we would prevail. We’re so happy for Kiku and his family.”
He added, “There’s still a lot of damage done, but at least Kiku gets a chunk of the season to play, and now he can show his work and show what sort of player he is.”