Since his de-commitment from Oklahoma State in May, Bixby senior basketball standout Parker Friedrichsen has heard from more than one school in the American Athletic Conference.
The University of Tulsa, he expected. Then-coach Frank Haith had extended an offer after the 6-foot-4-inch sharpshooter’s sophomore year, and new Hurricane head coach Eric Konkol made sure Friedrichsen knew the offer still stood when he took the wheel. Konkol and Friedrichsen have been in frequent communication since then.
“I respect Konkol in the sense of, within 30 minutes of my de-commitment from OSU, he reached out and said I had a spot there,” Friedrichsen said.
But AAC rival Memphis caught Friedrichsen by surprise. After Haith resigned from TU in March, he was hired to join Penny Hardaway’s bench with the Tigers, and it did not take long for the coach to re-establish connection with Friedrichsen late last month.
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“I was at the NBPA Top 100 Camp ... I hadn’t talked to (Haith) in months. And he called me, and I picked up like I’d been talking to him every day because we have that relationship,” Friedrichsen said. “We just started talking basketball and life ... and then we started talking about how it would be a good situation for me at Memphis.”
Friedrichsen first met Haith when he was 9 or 10 years old. He often attended Haith’s basketball camps, but their recruiting relationship has lasted “about the past two, three years,” Friedrichsen said.
Haith has reached out to more than one TU recruiting target since Memphis added his 343 Division I wins to its staff. On Monday night, Haith offered Kaden Cooper, a composite three-star 2023 guard-forward from Ada whose first offer came from TU in 2020.
Memphis also offered Wesley Yates, a 6-foot-4 guard from Beaumont, Texas, earlier this month. Haith’s staff at TU offered Yates in April 2021.
“I think (Haith) is gonna look this way for sure. It’s smart to, in my opinion. He already has those relationships, and Memphis is a good basketball school,” Friedrichsen said. “I think as a coach, you’ve gotta go find players that fit you and your team and can help you win. It doesn’t matter where they’re at.”
SMU threw its hat in the Friedrichsen ring Tuesday night with an official offer. Including Cincinnati, which hosted Friedrichsen on an unofficial visit last month, four AAC schools are in contention for his talents.
Friedrichsen confirmed that he is not considering OSU after he first committed to the Cowboys on March 14.
“It was nothing against coach (Mike Boynton) or his staff or the school,” Friedrichsen said. “It was just that I felt, and my family felt, that I rushed my decision. I took my official visit and committed two days after.”
Friedrichsen has played his senior summer with Under Armour team Kansas City Run GMC, whose alumni includes OKC Thunder forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Friedrichsen and his team will play in the Under Armour Association Finals during the final NCAA Evaluation Period on July 20-23 in Chicago.
Bryce McKinnis
Sports Writer
I cover sports at the University of Tulsa and Oral Roberts University. I previously freelanced for the Edmond Sun, the Daily Ardmoreite and others. I graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2021 via Tishomingo High School in 2017.
