MIDWAY Ashley Parker, a 5'10" junior forward from Midway, Florida, arrived on the Midway College campus in the fall of 2004. She quickly made a name for herself on the basketball court by doing something better than anyone else in the nation at any level could do REBOUND!
Parker, better known around the Midway College campus as "AP", led the nation in rebounding, averaging 13.1 rebounds per game as a freshman. Since then she has been working at an amazing pace to break the all-time rebounding record at Midway College. The record had not been touched in over 10 year when Jill Potts ('93 '97) grabbed 836 rebounds in her four year career. On Saturday, January 13th inside Midway College's Marshall Gymnasium, Parker grabbed a teammate's missed shot at the 1:59 mark of the second half and succeeded Potts atop Midway's all-time rebound list. What makes Parker's milestone even more impressive is the quickness in which she accomplished it. In 1997, Potts broke the record with 836 rebounds in her 136th career game, while Parker surpassed Potts in just her 68th career game as an Eagle. "That is the amazing part about AP breaking the record," said Midway's head women's basketball coach Timothy Southers. "She did it in half the time and still has further to go. AP is a special young lady with a special God-given talent to rebound the basketball. She doesn't get just the ones that come her way; she can pretty much get anything that comes off of the rim."
Parker is well on pace to be the only Midway College Basketball player to ever score over a 1,000 points and grab over 1,000 rebounds. A feat she seems to take all in stride. "I feel honored having the record, but I really want us to do better as a team," she says. "Individually I have had some great personal accomplishments and look forward to some future ones, but I really want a ring by way of winning the KIAC Championship. Coach Southers always tells us that individual accolades will lose their significance after awhile, but what we accomplish as a team will have a lasting effect. I'm working for that lasting effect." The Eagles are 7-12 overall and 0-2 in the KIAC they look to host Spalding University on Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 7:00 PM.
On this past Monday, Parker was also honored by the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) as the Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the second time this season (November 17th December 3rd). She scored 27 and 25 points in respective games, while grabbing a combined 31 rebounds during the week of January 8th January 14th. She currently leads the nation (NAIA Division I and Division II) with 13 double-doubles in 19 games. Parker also Ranks 2nd in Division II in Total Rebounds per Game (12.2), 4th in Defensive Rebounds per Game (7.8), and 4th in Offensive Rebounds per Game (4.4). Parker most importantly maintains a 3.0 grade point average, majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Computer Information Systems. She is the daughter of Diane Parker and the late Louis Parker of Midway, Florida.