Three months ago, Collin Parker thought his basketball career was over after he played his first and final season at Austin Peay University.

But recently, the Montgomery County graduate got a taste of the NBA.

Parker had workouts with the Detroit Pistons and Brooklyn Nets in a span of 24 hours. He worked out with the Pistons on June 1, then traveled to New York the following day to try out for the Nets.

Parker tried out for two teams that were headed in different directions this year. Detroit finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference at 60-22, but was knocked out by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference semifinals. Brooklyn finished 20-62, the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference, and didn’t qualify for the playoffs.

The 6-foot-8 Parker found out that trying out for the NBA was challenging.

“It’s tough,” Parker said. “I’m usually one of the tallest players, but that wasn’t the case in that scenario. A lot of the guys are over seven feet, so it’s much tougher than college.”

Parker had an agent named Fernando Tejada who helped him get tryouts in Detroit and Brooklyn. Both teams paid for Parker to come out to the workout sessions.

“My coach at Austin Peay helped me get this agent,” Parker said.

Parker said he enjoyed working out with the Pistons, who won three NBA championships in their history and finished with their second straight winning season this year.

“It was a really cool experience,” Parker said. “I was actually working out with five other recruits and draft prospects that they brought in, so we did a lot of 1 on 1 and three on three.”

Parker said he was thrilled to visit New York to try out for the Nets, who moved to Brooklyn from New Jersey in 2012.

“It was crazy,” Parker said. “It’s a very big city and it’s really beautiful.”

Parker said he hopes to get more tryouts from NBA teams in the future.

“I’m still waiting to hear back from maybe a few more teams,” Parker said. “I think Oklahoma City may have me out there, but other than that, it’s kind of just on the fly.”

Recently, Parker tried out for the Memphis Grizzlies. He plans to have a tryout with the Oklahoma City Thunder later in the  summer.

Parker earned an extra college basketball season this year after playing at Columbia College for four years. He was a strong addition to the Austin Peay roster as he led the Governors in points (17.5), field goals (194), defensive rebounds (157), three-point percentage (40.0) and free-throw percentage (81.5). He earned Atlantic Sun Conference Newcomer of the Year and first-team all-conference honors. He was also a four-time Atlantic Sun Conference Newcomer of the Week, a two-time conference player of the week and a recipient of the Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week.

The strong efforts helped play a key role in Austin Peay’s outstanding season. The Clarksville, Tenn., school finished 22-9 and reached the conference semifinals after going 14-19 the year before.

“We had an overall great team,” Parker said. “We were able to win a lot of games, so it was a lot of fun.”

Parker was a basketball standout at Columbia College, earning two all-American awards, receiving conference player of year honors twice and finishing as the school’s all-time leading scorer.

At Austin Peay, Parker played and started all 31 games, one of just two players on the team to do so. He scored in double figures 25 times.

“My goal was to get playing time and be able to win games,” Parker said. “I know Division I is a lot different than in the NAIA level, which I was at in Columbia College.”

Parker graduated from Austin Peay with a Master’s degree in business administration in May. He was named on the Athletics Directors Honor Roll.

“It’s awesome that they have a great schooling system, too,” Parker said. “We also had an academic advisor with the basketball team, so she helped out a lot. So it was good to be able to further my education as well.”

Parker wasn’t the only member in his family who played college basketball this year. His brother, Clayton, wrapped up his freshman year at Morehead State University.

Even though Parker’s college basketball career ended, he’s going to continue to be active in basketball.

“I just try to keep on working out and getting better,” Parker said. “If an NBA team likes me, I might be able to get into a summer league in Las Vegas. But that doesn’t work out, I probably will play overseas next year.”

Parker said trying out for the NBA this summer definitely impressed his parents, Carla and Chris.

“They’re very excited,” he said. “They were able to travel to a lot of games this year at Austin Peay, so I had continued support. They’re going to keep on supporting me in whatever I do.”

Parker graduated from MCHS in 2021. When he was a senior, he earned Class 4 all-state honors after finishing as the Wildcats’ top scorer at 19 points per game and helping his team win Eastern Missouri Conference and district championships. He also averaged 12 rebounds, four blocks and 2.5 assists per game. He made 55 percent of his shots and 85 percent of his free throws.