Fullerton Recruiting Sex Offender Parker

Richie Parker, a convicted sex offender and former New York City prep All-American basketball player, is being recruited by Cal State Fullerton, Titan assistant coach George Fuller said Thursday.

Parker was the nation’s top-rated high school point guard in 1995, but several colleges that had recruited him backed off. Parker pleaded guilty to felony first-degree sexual abuse in January 1995 and received five years’ probation.

“It’s in the preliminary stages, but I have talked to him,” Fuller said of Fullerton’s contact with Parker. “By NCAA regulations, that’s all I can really say.”

Titan Coach Bob Hawking, who is in New Jersey for the Final Four, told the New York Daily News: “We have talked to him. Like everybody who’s involved in the process, we put it through all the channels. No formal decision has been made. Obviously, it’s very sensitive.

“We’ve talked to him on the phone. We’ve explained things. . . . That’s the extent of the involvement. I know there are other people talking to him.”

The Titans’ interest in Parker came as news to Athletic Director John Easterbrook.

“To my knowledge, we are not recruiting Richie Parker,” he said Thursday.

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Staff writer Lon Eubanks contributed to this story.