Parker Chitty’s grandfather Bill Doba was an assistant football coach at Indiana University and Purdue and a head coach at Washington State.
Chitty’s mother Kristen was a cross-country and track coach at Bloomington South. His father Brent has been a head basketball coach for 26 years, including the past decade as boys coach at Columbus East.
With that pedigree, it’s easy to figure coaching is in Parker Chitty’s blood. So it didn’t come as a big shock that he has begun his professional career as a graduate assistant men’s basketball coach at University of Indianapolis.
"Having your dad being a coach your whole life, being around basketball my whole life, it’s something I’m very passionate about," he said. "I felt like it was my chance to give back, and I’m excited for the opportunity."
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
But as Brent, who coached Parker for four years at East, pointed out, he and Kristen didn’t push Parker or their daughter Taylor into coaching.
"Kris and I have always encouraged our kids to follow their dreams," Brent said. "It’s pretty tough that your parents are always doing sporting things. But we encouraged our kids to follow their own path. Taylor played soccer and works in business in Atlanta and is very successful."
But Parker knew after working an office job the summer after his freshman year at Bellarmine that he wanted to work in sports. A subsequent internship in the Bellarmine athletics office reaffirmed that desire.
"(The office job) drove me crazy," he said. "I wanted to do something that I loved. I’d like to be a head basketball coach at the college level. I saw how an athletic department runs. It’s definitely something I can see myself doing. If I retire from coaching and get bored in retirement, it would definitely be something I would look into."
Parker, who earned a degree in communications, helped Bellarmine to three NCAA Division II Tournament appearances after playing his freshman year at Division I Eastern Kentucky. Bellarmine, which is moving up to Division I this coming year, played in the same Great Lakes Valley Conference as UIndy.
"Parker knows our league very well and is a son of a high school coach here in Indiana," UIndy coach Paul Corsaro said in a news release. "I think he has a bright future ahead of him in this business."
Corsaro, who has played and coached for the Greyhounds, heads an all-new coaching staff at UIndy. His assistants are former Eastern Greene standout and Olney Central (Illinois) College coach Mike Burris and former Butler star Roosevelt Jones, who has spent the past two years as an assistant at IU-Kokomo.
"They’ve helped me out a lot transitioning from that player to coach role," Parker said. "They’ve been awesome to work with. Just learning more about coach Corsaro, it’s something I really wanted to be a part of. His energy is unmatched. He’ll do anything and everything to help student athletes become successful on and off the court. I really wanted to be a part of the program, and I’m blessed he wanted me to be a part of the program."
The Greyhounds began workouts for the 2020-21 season on Monday.
"Coach Corsaro is a young and up-and-coming coach, and then the staff he’s working with, coach Burris has coached a lot of good kids," Brent said. "To get around that kind of knowledge to start is a true blessing. We’re excited for him because it’s close to home. We just think it’s a blessed opportunity, and hopefully, he’ll make a go of it."
Parker said all UIndy athletes have to test negative for COVID-19 before returning to campus. When the athletes arrive, they have their temperature taken every day.
In addition, all equipment is cleaned every day, and all coaches have to wear masks.
"Obviously with COVID, that kind of put a damper on things," Parker said. "We just have to take every precautionary measure and making sure we’re safe. We’ve all been instructed not to go out in big crowds so that something doesn’t happen because if there was an outbreak, we would have to shut down. But we’re 100 percent going right now, and we’re getting after it."
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Parker Chitty” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Parker Chitty
High school: Columbus East
Colleges: Eastern Kentucky, Bellarmine
Occupation: Graduate assistant men’s basketball coach at University of Indianapolis
Family: Parents Brent and Kristen, sister Taylor
[sc:pullout-text-end]
