Oakland University men’s basketball forward Micah Parrish is ready to do great things with his fellow freshmen.

“I think all our freshmen right now from Joey [Holifield], to Chris [Conway], Trey [Townsend], me and PJ [Joseph] — I feel like this freshman class is gonna be a great class and I’m really excited for the future with all of us,” Parrish said.

Parrish, a native of Ypsilanti, MI, said there weren’t many additional challenges that came with being a freshman during the pandemic.

“I guess I could say that everything was new for everybody, so there wasn’t a specific thing we did last year that was new this year that somebody can teach us,” Parrish said. “Everything was new for everybody, so [it was just a matter of] getting adjusted.”

Parrish has some big aspirations for his career at Oakland.

“Hopefully a national championship appearance, even a ring,” Parrish said. “I just see big things. I want to achieve the biggest things that we can accomplish.”

Parrish said he tries to model his game after Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard.

“Just his game — his defensive intensity, how he can score in the post, his threes, his mid-ranges, he’s a very good player,” Parrish said.

In his free time, Parrish likes to play the Madden NFL games.

“I’m really good at Madden,” Parrish said. “Other than that, there’s not much else I really do.”

OU men’s basketball Head Coach Greg Kampe said Parrish “has no ceiling” in his mind.

“I thought we had something pretty good [when we were recruiting him],” Kampe said. “But he’s been probably even more exciting for me than I would have guessed. He’s got a really good chance of being a super, super player.”

Kampe also praised Parrish’s personality, calling him a “great kid.”

“He wants to win,” Kampe said. “He takes it out on himself a little too much and doesn’t like me screaming and yelling at him as much as I do. But, as he gets better and as he learns and grows I won’t [yell at him].”

Kampe said Parrish just needs experience in order to iron out the kinks.

“[Parrish] makes a mistake and learns from it— he’s really good at that,” Kampe said. “And that’s why I’m so high on him because I coach other players that will make a mistake, four times, six times before they learn and sometimes they don’t even look [at me]. But [Parrish] is a one time guy — he makes mistakes one time. He may not look like or act like he wants to hear me, but he hears me and he improves and I don’t see it again.”

Overall, Kampe said the team has a bright future with all of the freshmen, with Parrish leading the charge.

“This was a total rebuild,” Kampe said. “We mucked it all up a year ago, and we completely opened up the roster — I think we did a hell of a job in recruiting and putting ourselves in a position to get back to where we think we belong— where we used to be at the top of the league. If we can keep them all here, and they’ll work and grow and develop, then we’re going to meet those goals.”