Lloyd William Parkman III is a residential construction worker. Lloyd cuts sheetrock, does electrical work, plumbing – basically a little bit of everything and he likes it just fine. However, ask Lloyd what he really wants to be doing and he will probably say, “playing basketball.”
The 24-year-old Lloyd has loved basketball since he was a kid and relied on the game to get him through tough times during his youth.
“Ever since I was young I would use [basketball] to escape from a ton of things that go on in my life,” he continued.”It just helped me growing up with all of my hardships I’ve had to deal with.”
Though he starred at SUNY Delhi, averaging more than twenty points-per-game in a fourteen game season, Parkman was forced to leave the school due to his inability to pay his second-semester tuition. Given this reality, it’s easy to see why Lloyd thought that his dreams of playing professional basketball were over.
“I thought it was done. I knew it was my last game…I told coach and he said that we could try and work out financial aid but I realized and accepted that I needed to figure out my next step,” Lloyd said.
Lloyd’s next step would lead him into a job in construction. However, a glimmer of hope presented itself this past summer when the American Basketball Association announced that it would hold open tryouts for an expansion team located in Syracuse. Lloyd seized on that opportunity and beat out more than 150 other hopefuls and secured a contract to play for the Syracuse Stallions. Now that he has achieved his dream of being paid to play the game he loves Lloyd is dreaming even bigger.
Now that he has achieved his dream of being paid to play the game he loves Lloyd is now thinking even bigger.
“They [The Stallions] give me exposure to try and get overseas, to play at the next level.” He said
Even though he can’t help but daydream about what the future might hold, he still has his focus on the current season. When asked what his goals are for this upcoming season he only has one word, “Championship.”
The Stallions won their first game of the season this past Sunday, beating the Oneonta Octane 121-111. Lloyd Parkman scored 17 points in that game, pulled down five rebounds, dished out five assists and was named the player of the game. Parkman and the Stallions will face the Elmira Eagles on Sunday.
