Prep talk: Verbum Dei turns to Gary Parks to re-start football program

Gary Parks, a 1991 Verbum Dei graduate, knows the challenges ahead after accepting the job as head football coach at his alma mater.

“Verbum Dei is home for me,” he said.

Parks, who was head coach at Maya Angelou in the City Section for five years, is bringing with him four Verbum Dei graduates as assistants. If anyone knows how to build a winning program at the all-boys Catholic school in Watts, it’s Parks, who was an assistant coach for the 2006 championship team and helped put together a schedule to deal with the requirement of all students participating in work study.

“I know how the work study works,” he said. “The administration has changed and this one is awesome.”

There are 22 players in the program. Verbum Dei went 0-10 in 2023 and was 0-7 last season when the program was suspended for safety reasons after roster numbers had dropped.

“The first priority is to build up morale,” Parks said. “I welcome the challenge.”

It’s not every day you get a chance to try to reverse fortunes at your alma mater.

“We’re all going home,” Parks said. …

Four top basketball teams from Southern California are headed to Phoenix for the Nike Tournament of Champions Hoophall West showcase. St. John Bosco, Harvard-Westlake, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Eastvale Roosevelt will be playing three games each beginning Thursday. Here’s the schedule. …

Steven Perez of Banning was selected the City Section player of the year in football. Here’s the link to All-City teams.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.