Prospect Watch: Parker Althaus (2019)
Waconia always has players that come up through their quality system and shine as upperclassmen. One name to watch this spring/summer and into his senior season is Parker Althaus.
Ben Hester and Nick Fulford are senior veterans that man the middle at 6-foot-6 for the 12-10 Cats at the moment. Waconia’s tough schedule never stops hitting in waves. Waseca, New Prague, Delano, and Holy Family is how they finish the season. They’ve already beaten New Prague and Delano once plus have wins over BSM, Jordan, and Byron.
“Our team has performed well against some tough teams like Delano and has had quite a few close game losses with Shakopee and Holy Family,” Parker said. “We have a lot of talented, quick guys who don’t get frazzled in a tough situation.
“With some hard losses, we have learned a lot of lessons that will help us make a run in the playoffs. I think we can make some noise because we have a lot of talent and we all do really good if we play as a true team.”
The Cats are in a stacked section where nobody has a losing record. Orono and DeLaSalle are the highlighters but Cooper, Roosevelt, BSM, and others are also fighting for state here.
From game one of the year through the playoffs Waconia is always facing the best. Parker is getting ready for that with the JV and Varsity teams.
“For me personally, I have been trying to evolve from a 5 to a 4/3 working on my speed, ball handling and outside shots for the future play,” Parker said. “I am really excited to change things up.
“Over the last few years, I’ve made a promise that I would become a better defensive player, and also become a better distributor on offense as well as more aggressive. I have been putting in more time where it really matters, which has helped me a lot.”
At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds Parker played defensive line for the Waconia football team. He’s also a guy that played really well for the Minnesota Select 16u team last spring/summer which grabbed our attention to check in. Parker wants to play sports at the college level.
“I would like the number of colleges in contact to rise by the end of the summer. In both football and basketball.”