Saadique Perkins had a few options when it came to continue his basketball career.
The recent Park Hill South graduate had opportunities at two MIAA schools and one junior college. He ultimately chose to attend Emporia State and play for new coach, Craig Doty.
“It was the best fit,” said Perkins, who will major in communications with thoughts of going into journalism. “It was a whole new staff, new players and the visit was amazing, I knew I had to go there.”
“It is fun to start a new chapter. It will be a fresh start and I will play hard and everything will take care of itself.”
Doty and assistant coach Evan Lavery honed in on the 6-foot-4 guard in their rebuilding project at Emporia State. Doty came to the school after winning a NAIA title at Graceland, while Lavery was the head coach at Rock Valley College, where he replaced Doty.
Doty led Rock Valley to two national titles and one runner-up finish before leading Graceland to the NAIA title in Kansas City in 2018.
“The goal is to win, and our coach has been a winner, he has three titles,” Perkins said. “And all the players coming in, we want to win as well.”
Perkins will start working with his teammates in a few weeks and that will help determine whether he will play this upcoming year or redshirt. The Hornets have three seniors back on the roster and Doty brought in six transfers to go along with two other high school signees — Brock Halbach (Perkins’ roommate) and Ryan Ongala.
Citizen file photo
Park Hill South’s Saadique Perkins looks to land after dunking against Liberty North in a January home game earlier this season. Perkins has signed to play at Emporia State University this upcoming season.
“We welcome high character freshman who will grow within our program over the coming years to become quality MIAA student-athletes,” Doty said.
The first-team Suburban Conference Red Division pick averaged 14 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists this year for the Panthers. He garnered interest from State Fair Community College and Northwest Missouri State University as well as Emporia State.
“Saadique provided an all-around game for us,” Park Hill South coach Dan Parra said. “He often guarded the opposing team’s best player. On offense, he was probably our best passer and our best finisher. Very unselfish player that really cared more about his team winning than his personal stats. I know our program will miss him He’s going to do great things in college and I can’t wait to watch him grow into a great college player.”