Artsiom Parakhouski

Club

BC Andorra

Position

Center

Nationality

Belarus

Date of birth

1987-10-06

Birthplace

Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union

Height

6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)

Weight

281 lb (127 kg)

Artsiom Parakhouski (born October 6, 1987) is a Belarusian professional basketball player for Andorra of the Liga ACB. Standing at 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m), he plays at the center position.

He finished his American college career in 2010 with the Radford University Highlanders, located in Radford, Virginia. He led NCAA Division I in rebounds in 2009–10 at 13.4 per game. He was named the Big South Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010, becoming the fifth multiple player of the year winner in Big South history.

Early life
Born and raised in Minsk by parents who both coached national Belarusian team sports, Parakhouski grew up playing football (soccer) until age 16. He was forced to switch to basketball, a sport he had never even played, when his body grew too large for any realistic football aspirations. After an introduction to the game and much practice on fundamentals, he began to play competitively.

Parakhouski was spotted by Ali Ton, then a Binghamton University men's basketball assistant coach, at the Junior European Championships. Seeing his potential, Ton persuaded Parkhouski to first attend a junior college in the United States before enrolling at a major university to progress in basketball and to simultaneously learn English. At College of Southern Idaho, Parakhouski struggled to grasp the language, admitting "It was hard for me. The first five-to-six months I couldn't speak at all. I couldn't understand anyone around me. I was basically in a jungle with nobody."

When Ton became an assistant coach at Radford University, Parakhouski followed him. Under the guidance of head coach Brad Greenberg he developed into a National Basketball Association (NBA) center prospect following his 2009–10 senior season but was ultimately never drafted.

College career
Parakhouski spent his first two seasons of his NCAA eligibility at College of Southern Idaho, where in 63 games played he averaged 10.1 points and 6.4 rebounds on 60.1% shooting. Parakhouski then spent his final two college seasons as a Radford Highlander.

As a junior in 2008–09, Parakhouski averaged 16.2 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on 53.7% shooting. He led Radford to win the Big South Conference Tournament by scoring 26 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in the championship game. After gaining an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament as the 16th seed, he then scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against the #1-seed and eventual national champion No