Parchment 'ready for whatever comes' as sophomore with Illini

Jul. 10—CHAMPAIGN — Cearah Parchment just turned 19 this past Saturday.

That still means the Illinois women's basketball team's 6-foot-3 forward is one of the youngest players on its full 15-player roster heading into the upcoming 2026-27 season.

Even as a sophomore.

Only freshman forwards Lana Brenjo (by 12 days) and Morgan Baptist (now at 18 years, three months) are younger than the Whitby, Ontario, native.

That makes this offseason an important one for Parchment in terms of her development despite the fact the Canadian was one of the Illini's best players last season on a 22-win team that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament with the forward averaging 13.6 points, a team-high 8.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game while starting all 34 games for coach Shauna Green and Co.

That was plenty good enough for Parchment to land a place on the All-Big Ten freshman team, as well as Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors and the No. 7 player on ESPN's season-ending impact freshmen list.

"I think it was a really successful freshman season for me," Parchment said on Thursday in the lobby at Ubben Basketball Complex. "Obviously, I think I can just keep going up from here. As everyone says, this is going to be the worst that I am in my career. If I can continue to get better in practice, that will carry over eventually when we get to the games. ... (Last) season went even better than I thought. I don't know if (playing in the post was) where I thought I would be necessarily, but I just adapted, and at the end of the day, I want to play basketball. I kind of learned how to be a 5 while also bringing my skills into it."

Part of Parchment's growth this summer will include time with her national team. A summer that began with Parchment named to the Canada basketball senior women's national team training camp roster. It was her first call-up to the senior national team, and Parchment was in Montreal for a week late last month for training camp.

Parchment has since returned to campus before she will leave C-U again for a week in late July. That second camp in Victoria, British Columbia — which Parchment originally didn't plan to attend — will include an exhibition game against reigning NCAA national champion UCLA on July 22. Parchment will then finish up her summer in Guadalajara, Mexico, as Team Canada plays in the FIBA Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament from Aug. 17-23.

"It was a really cool experience," Parchment said of last month's training camp. "I was super grateful that I was even considered to be on that training camp roster, and now, I get to go back. There were a ton of veterans, a ton of pros on that team and other people from other colleges that I know. So, it was really cool to get to play against them and kind of see what level they're at, so I can one day be there. During practices, I think I was always asking questions, and they were really helpful. (The whole experience) just helped me a lot."

Parchment didn't really come to Illinois expecting to play at the center position. A four-star, top 40 recruit in the Class of 2025, Parchment was viewed more as a threat on the wing, particularly with her ability to shoot the three-pointer. That process of acclimating to a new role had its ups and downs.

But Parchment said it was a conversation she had with Green and her coaching staff that really sparked a change in her mindset. That talk happened after the Illini's 81-75 loss at Michigan State on Jan. 4.

"Even though I do play the 5, I don't have to be a traditional 5 banging in the post," Parchment said of what she remembers most from that conversation. "I can use my versatility. I can use my speed, shoot ability. Even though it's a label, it's not what you have to be."

That next step in Parchment's game, according to Green, has been bolstered by another offseason of college-level strength and conditioning.

But there's also, of course, the challenge Parchment will face in being a known commodity. That the Illinois forward will be at the top of opponent's scouting reports will be an adjustment Parchment has to deal with during the 2026-27 season, although it must be said she was starting to get that sort treatment as one of the key players for the Illini alongside starting point guard Destiny Jackson and All-Big Ten First Team forward Berry Wallace as the 2025-26 season advanced.

And certainly when Parchment led Illinois to a first-round win in the NCAA tournament as a No. 7 seed — a 66-57 victory against No. 10 seed Colorado where she delivered 21 points on 8 of 10 shooting and pulled down five rebounds in 38 minutes on the floor at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tenn.

"How are you going to make your game even harder to guard?" Green said of the mindset that will required of Parchment ahead of her sophomore year. Parchment finished her debut season shooting 50.6 percent from the floor overall, 40.7 percent from beyond the three-point arc and 80.0 percent at the free-throw line.

"How are you going to make yourself a better defender? Taking the experience of last year and really being intentional and building on that," Green continued. "That takes maturity. That takes the right mindset every day to go in and be intentional in your actions and what you are trying to accomplish.

"A year in the weight room has really been beneficial to CeCe and her strength and her physicalness on the court has continued to improve, and that was something that was a big point for us. She's done great with it."

That improvement can also happen this summer away from the Illini. That's where her time with Canada women's basketball is notable for Parchment.

It's also why Green has been completely on board with her players getting experience with their respective national teams. Illinois junior forward Irene Noya Catoira has been with Spain playing in FIBA U20 Women's EuroBasket in Lithuania. Spain has reached the quarterfinals and will face Turkiye on Friday.

Parchment — along with guard Aaliyah Guyton and center Lety Vasconcelos, both of whom will play this summer for the Brazilian national team — will miss part of the summer with the Illini as a result of hopefully helping their teams begin their qualifying campaigns to reach the Summer Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles.

"I think it's great for her," Green said of Parchment. "You know, you get comfortable in our system and now you have to learn another system. You are playing with high-level players. You have to maybe be uncomfortable in some things that are totally different. I think that's all part of growth, and just the high-level competition that she's sees. I think that experience for her is just unbelievable, and again, all part of the process of growth for her individually. ... I don't ever want to get in the way (of that). I actually want to help you achieve your goals. ... If you want to make an Olympic team — and that means a lot to you — let's work together to try to achieve those goals."

It's all part of a path forward for Parchment.

One that the sophomore forward hopes will help lift her team to even greater heights this upcoming season.

With a bulk of the Illinois core running it back for another year in Champaign, it's clear preseason expectations are the highest they have been in Green's time as Illini coach.

Parchment says: Bring it on.

"I think getting back into the flow of things and continuing to build my versatility," the Illinois forward said has been her main summer focus. "I feel like I played a lot at the 5 last year, so transitioning into the 4 and building some more guard skills (is important).

"I think it just speaks to how the season went last year and how teams will see me (as a threat) this year. That will bring more of a challenge, and I think I am ready to step up to that. The teams are going to be scouting me, and they know my game more. I will just be ready for whatever comes."