Parsons reps SEC in Conference Voices Blog

For whatever reason, it was completely unknown to us that Florida Gators senior forward Chandler Parsons was one of six college basketball players who had been writing a monthly post for ESPN Insider’s Conference Voices Blog. Though we will not reprint the posts in their entirety for you, here are portions of each so far this season along with a link to the full article on ESPN Insider (subscription only).

11/19/10: Early-season tests key for Florida

We have an experienced team that’s been through that before so we know that it matters what you do off the court, whether you’re eating right, putting the right stuff in your body. I think as an older team we realize you can’t burn the candle at both ends. I love playing a tough nonconference schedule but when I was a freshman we had a very young team. Coach Donovan didn’t necessarily schedule the hardest teams because he wanted to get our feet wet. He wanted us to play at home and get used to college basketball. This year, it’s different because we have an older team. We have Florida State on the road, Kansas State, Xavier. I’m all for it, especially going on the road because it’s like playing in the tournament. You could be playing anywhere in the country. It’s good to play in some hostile locations, not just the hostile places in your conference.

12/18/10: K-State and the SEC slate

UCF is still undefeated. I wouldn’t say it was a bad loss — they’re a good team. Afterwards, with his comments I think Coach Donovan was worried about our offense — not making the best decision when the ball is in our hands, turning the ball over, not getting the best shot. He basically wants us to play unselfish and for the people with the ball to get the best available shot. Ever since that game, I think we learned a lot from that and I think we’ve grown in the last three or four games our defense has been really good. We’re more worried about our defense. We know we have enough offensive firepower to win games.

1/22/11: No easy outs in the SEC this season

I’m sure that Auburn game was brutal to look at, it was brutal to play in, too. We were able to get a win even though we shot 15-for-53, and I think that says a lot about the character of this team. We went on the road and won in their building with our defense. […]But for us within the conference, we understand that every game is going to be a war. We understand that even if Auburn is 0-and-4, going into their place is not going to be an easy game.

3/2/11: Chandler Parsons is healthy and thriving

My teammates are going after me. I’m starting to think they did it on purpose. But no, really, at first it was Vernon [Macklin] at Georgia with the towel and then Alex [Tyus]. You see that all the time, the bench gets hyped and we’re throwing towels around and his hit me where it wasn’t supposed to. And then with the knee, it was just me and Alex both going for the rebound and he just happened to hit me.

It was close to my hip, like on the outside of my thigh, and it caused some serious swelling in my leg. My left leg was twice as big as my right one. I couldn’t put any pressure on it and I was on crutches. My trainer, who’s been training for 30 years, says it’s the worst thigh contusion he’s ever seen. Right where I got hit was bruised, but the swelling went down to my knee. It was so black and blue. I’ve never had to be on crutches in my life before that.