For Lake Central junior Parker Robinson, it turned out the best was saved for last.
The 6-foot-4 shortstop said he had already been engaged with Baylor, Oregon and Oregon State when Oklahoma’s coaches contacted him in mid-October. He then visited the Sooners in late November.
“We weren’t really thinking about Oklahoma before they reached out,” he said. “But when we went down there, we really loved the visit and the people and all of the facilities. It’s just a great school all around.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity they gave me. Being in the SEC, the opportunity they gave me is really great. You have to be on your ‘A’ game all the time. Oklahoma does a really good job of developing players. That was one of the main reasons why I chose them.”
Robinson, who announced on social media last week that he committed to Oklahoma, has continued to develop during his time at Lake Central. He stepped right into the lineup at shortstop as a freshman as the Indians won the Class 4A state championship in 2024. He hit .245 with 17 RBIs, 20 runs scored and six stolen bases.
“Parker came in as a freshman and day one played with a maturity well above his years as noted by his play throughout that regular season as well as our state championship run,” Lake Central coach Mike Swartzentruber said. “He has continued to put in endless amounts of time on improving every facet of his game.”
Robinson hit .341 with 12 doubles, 18 RBIs, 25 runs and eight stolen bases last season as Lake Central shared the Duneland Athletic Conference title with Crown Point.
“It was a pretty good year for me,” he said. “But I had a lot to learn from it. It’s just a lot of mechanical work. I’m doing a lot of lifting, a lot of hitting, a lot of fielding — just really the three main components — and a lot of speed work too.
“I just want to get better overall, just improving everything I can, getting faster, stronger, more powerful, everything like that. Just improving. I just want to be that player that helps to push us to another state championship.”
Indeed, Robinson has kept moving forward.
“It’s been a pleasure to watch him mature both physically and mentally as he heads into what we expect to be a huge junior year for him,” Swartzentruber said. “Moving into his now junior year, we challenged him not only to take his game to another level but to take on more of a leadership role.
“During fall workouts, he exceeded those expectations in both of those areas.”
Swartzentruber thinks Robinson has even more potential to tap.
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“Parker has all the tools to play this game for a very long time,” Swartzentruber said. “Coupled with his passion to improve his game and passion to play this game, I am confident he can do just that. He is very coachable, personable and a pleasure to work with on a daily basis. Can’t say enough good things about him.”
Robinson’s relationships with players such as Ed Howard, a 2020 Chicago Mount Carmel graduate who had signed with Oklahoma before the Cubs selected him in the first round of the 2020 MLB draft, and Kendall Pettis, a 2019 Chicago Brother Rice graduate and former Oklahoma player who’s a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers, boosted his belief in the program. The Sooners were the Men’s College World Series runners-up in 2022.
“It feels really good,” Robinson said. “Taking all of the visits and everything, it was fun. But I really wanted to lock down my decision. I don’t have to worry about it anymore. It just feels really good.”