Mark James of Ben Davis and Rod Parker of Homestead have been chosen as Indiana’s nominees for the National Federation of State High School Associations national basketball coaches of the year.
James guided Ben Davis to a 23-5 season in 2016-17, including a 55-52 victory over Fort Wayne North for the Class 4A championship. He is entering his 36th season as a head coach in 2017-18 and has a career record of 538-277. He is 100-47 in six seasons with the Giants.
James is a 1973 graduate of Martinsville High School, where he competed in basketball, tennis and track. He also is a 1977 graduate of MacMurray College in Illinois, where he played basketball and tennis. He later earned a master’s degree from Indiana University.
James began his coaching career as an assistant for five seasons at Carmel. His first head coaching position was at Covington for three years, and he coached at Franklin Central for 26 years before moving to Ben Davis. James’ teams have won 11 sectionals, two regionals, one semi-state and one state title.
He has been a physical education teacher for 40 years, the last six years at Ben Davis.
James and his wife, Pam, have four adult children – Jessica, Derek, Nicole and Kyle.
Parker led Homestead to a 28-2 effort last season that included a 61-54 triumph over Pike for the Class 4A state crown. He has completed 16 seasons as the Spartans’ coach, posting a 270-112 record that includes five sectional titles, three regional trophies, two semi-state efforts and one state banner. Over the past three seasons, his teams have been 4A state runner-up (2015), 4A final four (2016) and 4A state champ (2017).
Parker is a 1989 graduate of Fort Wayne Snider, where he played basketball and baseball. He then attended IPFW, where he played two years of baseball and earned degrees in education and administration. He started his coaching career as a boys’ basketball assistant at Homestead before becoming the school’s head girls’ coach. He also coached boys’ golf at Homestead from 1996-2012.
He is now in his 24th year with Southwest Allen County Schools, where he is a sixth-grade science teacher.
Parker and his wife, Melissa, have three children – Madisen, Rylie and Ryan.
