Parker Gerrits opens up Olympia’s offense as Bears ready for playoffs

Parker Gerrits’ roots are in basketball.

He was a toddler learning to bounce a ball at Yelm’s practices when his dad, Ryan, was the Tornados’ head coach. Later, he was a fixture in Chick Rockey Gym as Ryan assisted then-Olympia coach Luke Salme and ran a local AAU program.

“My whole life I’ve been following my dad around to gyms,” he said.

Olympia coach John Kiley watched Gerrits take to the sport.

“Parker and his dad have worked together to form a love for the game,” said Bears’ coach John Kiley. “From that love he’s become a true student of it.”

Gerrits kept his eyes and ears open, learning from Ryan but also from a variety of other sources. A 6-foot-2 junior at Olympia, he’s become the go-to guy on a balanced Bears team that entered Saturday’s game at Emerald Ridge 15-3. They’ll finish the regular season as champions of the 4A South Puget Sound League’s South Division.

“I’ve learned a lot from my dad. I give him credit for the stuff he’s taught me but Coach Kiley’s a great coach, I’ve learned a lot of things from him,” said Gerrits. “I also learned a lot from guards here I watched growing up or played with my first two years, like Kai Johnson (now playing for Western Washington) and Zach Swanson.

“They always fought and went after people.”’

Gerrits leads the Bears in scoring with 18 points per game. He’s also averaging three assists and three rebounds per game. One scouting service rates him the 16th best player among Washington’s class of 2023.

He has Division I offers in hand from Montana and Portland, with UC-San Diego, Portland State, Pepperdine and Montana State also rumored to have interest.

Kiley understands why.

“His desire to be the best he can is not a cliché. He really works to be a great player,” Kiley said. “Physically he’s changed his body. He wants to be great in the classroom as well. He truly has a motor to pursue greatness.”

During the high school off season, Gerrits played with talent-laden Tacoma-based AAU program Washington Supreme and continued his learning process.

“Washington Supreme was an opportunity to show me I could play at a high level,” he said. “It’s really fun to go against some of the top competition in the country. You see crazy athletes you don’t usually see.”

Kiley says Gerrits’ development over the spring and summer was noticeable.

“His confidence grew from doing well with Washington Supreme,” the long time Bears’ coach said. “He had opportunities to go against players from all over the country. All of that melded nicely. Success begat more success.”

The new standard for offensive players is the ability to score from the basket on out to beyond the three point arc. Kiley said Gerrits meets it.

“People talk about three-level scoring,” Kiley said. “Parker can shoot it from the three, he has a great pullup game. He’s attacking the basket and finishing at the rim so much better this season. Left, right, hesitation, he has an ability to get to where he wants to. He’s added a really nice midrange game.

“He’s tough to defend.”

Gerrits wasn’t alone in propelling the Bears to their division title.

Andreas Engholm, a 6-7 junior is averaging 14 points and five rebounds per game. Caden Roth, a 6-1 senior, has been a stat-sheet stuffer with nine points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals per game.

Junior Mason Juergens, a star receiver during football season, contributes seven points and four rebounds.

“Mason is one of the best defensive players in our league, maybe the state,” said Kiley.

But for all Olympia can bring the table this season, a piece who’s missing after anchoring the Bears’ middle for four years, Jackson Grant, now coming off the bench for UW, is still notable. Olympia has adjusted its game to life without a Pac-12 quality big man.

“It’s pretty easy to throw the ball up to the corner of the backboard for a 6-11 guy,” Gerrits said. “We have to attack a lot more and create different ways to get the ball into the post because we still have two pretty good big guys we want to get involved.”

Kiley added, “There’s obviously more space without Jackson. With him it was foolish not to try to pound the ball inside and maybe get some kick outs. But without him, everybody has had more space and Parker does a premier job of attacking individuals and space.”

Gerrits says a togetherness the Bears have always had made it easier to stay successful despite a change in playing styles.

“Our chemistry is really close,” he said. “A lot of us hang out off the court nonstop. We really don’t hang out with anyone else but each other. We all trust each other. No matter who’s taking the shot we feel like it’s the team taking the shot.”

Kiley compares Gerrits to former Gonzaga star Derek Raivio, who went on to play for a decade as a European pro: a point guard who can score. With another trip around the AAU circuit with Washington Supreme to come, Kiley sees Gerrits’ recruitment stock going up.

“He’s going to make the right play. He’s got a high basketball IQ. He can make split second decisions, in traffic, whether there’s space or no space. That derives from studying the game and loving it like he does.”