Sometimes unexpected setbacks lead to better outcomes in the end. Such could be said for former Goochland High School basketball player Malcolm Parham.

  After graduating from GHS in 2006, the Bulldogs’ team captain had his sites set on playing Division I basketball. Though he had been accepted to play at Division III UVA-Wise, Parham turned down the offer of being a Cav to take a chance at walking on at Virginia Commonwealth. However, after enrolling at VCU Parham’s fate took a turn for the worse when then head coach Jeff Capel left the school to take the head coaching job at Oklahoma. Suddenly the prospects of playing as a walk-on disappeared.

  “I was kind of left in the open,” Parham said. “After that I really didn’t know what I was going to do.”

  Rather than give up on his hope of one day playing Division I ball, Parham continued to practice and keep in shape. “During that time I was kind of working out on my own each and every day,” Parham said. “Still lifting weights, staying in the gym for hours, just preparing myself if the opportunity came.”

  Over this past summer, opportunity knocked for Parham while attending a basketball showcase where he by chance met representatives from Mount St. Mary’s College. After initial talks, Parham made the trip to Emmitsburg, Md. for a workout for the Mounts’ coaches. “The next thing I know they wanted me to come and play for them and here I am now.”

  Parham could not be happier now that he is a member of Coach Milan Brown’s Mount squad. “It just seemed like it was meant to be because of all those events,” Parham said. “I didn’t know what I was going to do one day then the day after…that whole day changed everything.”

  Due to NCAA transfer rules, Parham will have to sit out this season but that does not exclude him from working with the team. “Every day, six a.m. practice,” Parham said. “Weights, everything. It was kind of tough to get adapted to it but as time progressed, I’m used to it now. I realized it’s a whole another level.”

  When the 2009-10 season rolls around, Parham believes he can earn playing time. “I think next year if I keep working I’ll find myself in the rotation somewhere,” he said. “The coaches have kind of been hinting at me if I keep working I can get in the rotation.”

  Though he comes to the team as a walk-on, Parham believes he can eventually earn a scholarship. “Next year they’ll have four up and hopefully one of them can be mine.”