Norman 2025 guard Keeley Parks determined to get Lady Tigers back to state tournament

NORMAN, OKLAHOMA - Keeley Parks knew it was going to be different. 

After helping lead a senior-laden Norman High squad to the 2023 6A state championship game last year, the talented junior combo guard knew the path back this season was going to be difficult.

With a young and inexperienced crew around her, Parks was ready for the challenge of getting the Lady Tigers back on the big stage. That has meant being more than a playmaker.

“I definitely thought it would be a process because all of them played (junior varsity),” Parks said. “We had one player now that's played varsity before, so everything's new to them.

"I feel like I had to show a lot more leadership. Just encouraging them because it was their first time playing varsity basketball, so I had to encourage them and be like, calm down; you got it. Don't be scared or anything.”

It’s the leadership part that Norman High coach Frankie Parks has been impressed with seeing in his daughter.

“This year, obviously she's had to take on a bit more of a leadership role on and off the court,” Frankie Parks said of his daughter. “Keeley's always kind of been the younger kid around the older kids and kind of taken directions and instructions from them, and now this year it's changed quite a bit in that sense, graduating 12 seniors last year.

"Obviously, those kids weighed on the program and its culture and how things were done and Keeley could kind of just find her way in there, but that has definitely changed this year.”

Oklahoma high school girls basketball: Here are the top point guards for the 2023-24 season 

While the 5-foot-11 Keeley Parks has taken on more responsibilities, that didn’t stop her from improving her game as well.

During the regular season, she averaged 25 points, eight rebounds, three assists and almost five steals for Norman Nigh. That includes a 51-point outburst in December that set a new school record.

“I think scoring-wise I’ve improved. And (for) rebounding, now I'm one of the biggest people on the court,” Parks said. “We had three bigs last year, so (I was) getting rebounds running in transition.

"I knew I was going to have to be more impactful on the boards. I'm probably the second tallest on the team, so I have to.”

With a 5-star rating, Parks is ranked the 19th-best player in ESPN’s Super 60 in the 2025 class. She has more than 45 offers from women’s basketball programs around the country. 

Earlier this month Parks whittled down her list to just 15 schools. They include Baylor, LSU, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, North Carolina State, Duke, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Colorado, Kansas State, UCLA, TCU, Florida and North Carolina.

Parks' selections are coast to coast in a variety of different conferences. She holds no preference for any particular region or climate. She is just looking for the right fit.

“I just want good relationships with the coaches and players,” Parks said. “Maybe play somewhere where I know people. I mean honestly, I feel like anywhere I go, I'll know people because I've met them at camps and played against them.”

Yet, Parks is also looking for a certain style of play when she heads to the next level. The “free, five-out” transition game is what she prefers. Or as she described it, more of a pickup basketball game.

According to Frankie Parks, he and his wife Melissa do not have a specific program they want to see their daughter play at. Despite having hosted countless college coaches at Norman practices over the past couple of years, the biggest factor is his daughter’s happiness.

“Wherever she's happy I think is what it comes down to, and hopefully that happiness comes from within the program and the people that she's around and the opportunities that she'll receive outside of basketball,” Coach Parks said. “No timeline on a final decision at this point.

"We'll kind of give some insight on her top schools and as parents, we'll really start focusing on those schools with her once again, to try to find those things that are important to us as parents, and then finding the right fit and making sure that once again, she's happy when it's all said and done.”

Parks has aspirations to play in the WNBA or overseas. Whatever college program she ends up playing for is going to have to be one that can help her accomplish that goal.

Parks still has a full senior year to go through before taking her talents to the next level. Right now, her biggest concern is how to get the Lady Tigers into the final eight teams in next week's 6A state tournament.

Once there, she knows anything can happen.

“I think we can make a good run at state,” Parks said. “Our defense is really good, which means a lot.”

Norman will play Piedmont Thursday night in a 6A West area elimination game, with the winner playing Saturday for the right to advance to state, taking on the loser of the area title game between Edmond North and Mustang, also being played Thursday.

-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK