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PROVO — One of the first things Portland State wide receiver De’Sean Parsons wants to do when the Vikings arrive in Utah ahead of their season opener at BYU is find a Cafe Rio.
Parsons is familiar with the culinary cuisine of the Wasatch Front, and he knows what he likes — smothered burritos at Cafe Rio like the one he visited regularly in Taylorsville during his two-year basketball career at Salt Lake Community College.
The former Region 18 co-MVP at SLCC, Parsons continued his basketball career at Portland State, where he averaged 14.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game as a senior in leading the Vikings to a 15-16 record and a 7-11 mark in Big Sky play.
“Growing up, I was always able to catch a ball,” said Parsons, who is also a graduate student in social work. “But I’ve had to learn to catch it from a quarterback who throws it 70 miles per hour. When I started, I wanted to catch a football like a basketball — one-handed and the like. A lot of guys are making the transition, and some guys make it, and some guys don’t.”
When it was all over, PSU offensive coordinator Steve Cooper visited with Parsons in his office. He asked him to walk at spring football, and possibly use his final season of collegiate eligibility (for football) to help the Vikings football team.
The 6-foot-7, 200-pound wing gave it a go — and now he’ll suit up for his first official football game Saturday in his adopted hometown with a maxed-out ticket allowance in his corner.
Even with just two years in Salt Lake City for basketball, the Sacramento, California native still has plenty of friends living in the 801 area code.
“My freshman year was really hard to transition from California to Utah. But as I got older, I learned to love my sophomore year, the community, our athletic department at SLCC, and the coaches,” Parsons said. “That was honestly one of the best teams I’ve been a part of, and the coaching staff was amazing.
“I still talk to them to this day.”
Parsons will be motivated to make use of any playing time he gets against BYU, for obvious reasons. But so will the Vikings, who went just 3-8 in 2016 and are led by true freshman quarterback Jalani Eason, who passed for 2,290 yards, 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a senior at California’s Junipero Serra High School.
And while the Cougars will be overwhelming favorites at home against an FCS opponent, they will need to take the motivated lower-subdivision squad seriously.
“Every player at that level feels like they can match up and play against FBS-level teams. This is their opportunity to prove that to themselves, to each other, to their families,” said BYU assistant head coach Ed Lamb, who spent seven years as the head coach at Southern Utah with stops at San Diego, Idaho and the University of Redlands. “They’ll play sky-high with as much energy as they can muster.”
Though Lamb is a couple of years removed from his days making Big Sky road trips, he remembers Portland State’s ethos well, as led by head coach Bruce Barnum and his innovative “Barney Ball” offense. The culture of FCS football involves smaller stadiums, local fanbases, and community-driven support — but it also comes with a lot of internal motivation that the Vikings will bring to Provo.
“Teams have a culture, and Portland State has tremendous culture of athleticism,” Lamb said. “Every year, they were one of the more athletic teams in the Big Sky.
“They can go fast. They have that ability. They run the ball really well downhill, and they have five returning starters on the offensive line.”
Parsons will be motivated, though he admits he is still learning the game. The former basketball standout played just one season of high school football — his freshman year — before transferring to Grant Union in Sacramento and focusing exclusively on basketball.
But it’s hard to turn away a 6-foot-7 target whose first instinct is to snag a football with one hand.
“It was a struggle for the first few weeks of spring ball, but it was a process,” Parsons said. “I have my up-and-down days; there is a lot I am still learning about the game of football, but I felt like it was something I could be good at.”
“Sometimes I have bad days for football, but I have to realize I’ve only been playing it since April.”
And now he’ll be playing Division I FCS football on Saturdays — starting this weekend in front of a friendly crowd.
“Coaches, friends, one of our athletic trainers who helped me out a lot — I’ll have a little fan base there, which is amazing,” he said. “Everything is still brand new for me and that will make the nerves easier that weekend.”
Listen to the complete conversation with Parsons on the KSL.com Campus Report podcast.
