Former Ohio State center Austin Parks is staying in the Buckeye State to continue the next chapter of his college basketball career, announcing on Wednesday that he is transferring to Toledo.
Parks, a St. Marys Ohio, native, joins the Rockets with two years of eligibility left after playing just two seasons with the Buckeyes, averaging 1.0 points and 0.8 rebounds in 24 games played during that span in a mostly reserve role.
He played a bit of a bigger role in the Buckeyes’ struggling frontcourt this past season, playing 15 games and totaling 20 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block in that span, but most of those totals occurred in nonconference play. Parks appeared in just seven of the team’s 20 Big Ten contests and did not log a minute of action in the team’s final two must-win games against Indiana at Assembly Hall and Iowa in the Big Ten tournament before entering the transfer portal on March 18.
Parks — who set 13 school records at St. Marys, including career points (1,528), career rebounds (645), points in a game (45) and career wins (71) — will look to find a much bigger role on a Toledo program that is coming off an 18-15 season and fourth-place finish in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The Rockets are losing their leading rebounder from the 2024-25 season in rising junior forward Javon Simmons, who grabbed 6.8 boards and scored 12.5 points per game this season and is transferring to Ohio University.
Parks is the third former Buckeye who has found a new home this spring out of the transfer portal. Forward Evan Mahaffey will play his senior season at Akron — where he will team up with his former teammate Bowen Hardman — while Meechie Johnson Jr. committed to South Carolina on April 1. 7-1 forward Aaron Bradshaw has yet to find a new team after filling out the paperwork to enter the portal on April 1, but he is visiting Memphis and head coach Penny Hardaway on Wednesday.
The men’s basketball transfer portal is set to close on April 22.
