Life has been good for Carson and Collin Parker after two years at Columbia College.

The Montgomery County brothers combined for 1,275 points, helped the Cougars finish with back-to-back winning seasons and earned many awards. This winter, they lifted Columbia to American Midwest Conference regular season and tournament titles and a berth to the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Tournament.

“It was a lot of fun,” Carson said. “Winning is always fun. It’s always great to have a good group of guys to play with and to play with Collin another year.”

The Cougars won their first three games and went on to finish 23-9 overall and 12-4 in conference play. Their season ended with a loss to Morningside University in a first-round national tournament game in Wichita, Kan. Last year, Columbia came within a whisker of winning the AMC tournament title, losing to Missouri Baptist 66-65 on a buzzer-beating shot in the championship game.

“We kind of clicked better this year,” Collin said. “We worked hard to get to the championship.”

The Parkers finished with 699 points and grabbed 318 rebounds. Collin was the Cougars’ second-leading scorer with 524 points, while Carson was the sixth-leading scorer.

The 6-foot-8 Collin earned first-team all-conference honors with his strong offensive play. He scored in double figures in all but three games this season.

“I got the ball more and my teammates got me the ball at the right spots,” Collin said.

Collin also was named to the AMC all-tournament team and earned the conference player of the week honors on Nov. 7.

Last year, Collin was the Cougars’ third-leading scorer at 10.4 points per game, was named to the AMC all-freshman team and earned honorable mention all-conference recognition.

Collin, who is majoring in business administration, credits head coach Tomas Brock for his successful college basketball career.

“He definitely taught me a lot throughout the two years I’ve been there,” Collin said.

Carson scored in double digits six times this season. He scored a season-high 14 points against Williams Baptist on Nov. 17. A year ago, Carson averaged 10 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and scored in double digits 14 times.

“I didn’t put as many points on the board, but I did a lot of smaller things, like rebound and play defense,” Carson said. “I had a different role, but I accepted that role early on and I tried to help us win.”

Carson said he enjoyed playing with senior Tony Burks, who was the Cougars’ leading scorer at 19.4 points per game and earned third-team all-American honors.

“Tony is a good player,” Carson said.

Carson and Collin played together for three years at MCHS. In the 2019-20 season, they helped the Wildcats win 25 games and capture an Eastern Missouri Conference championship.

“It’s always nice to have someone there you know well,” Carson said. “We’ve been playing together for 15-plus years, so we always have that good bond together.”

During the season, the Parkers received plenty of support from their family members, including their younger brother, Clayton, who is now a junior at MCHS.

“We can teach him a lot on how to play at the college level,” Collin said. “Going to the games kind of shows him what it’s like and should help him in the future.”

Carson will play for Columbia for two more years. He earned an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carson plans to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2024.

“With this degree, you can do a lot of different things and get a lot of different job opportunities,” Carson said. “So it always helps to have that more of a wide range to get into the work field.”

The Parkers were also named to the academic all-AMC team. Carson earned CoSIDA Academic All-District and Daktronics NAIA Scholar Athlete honors.