Boudreaux hopes to play for Knights
NCAA will decide his hardship case
Parker Boudreaux is hopeful he will have a big impact on the UCF football team in the future. The Knights coaching staff has high expectations, as well.
He could give UCF a big boost soon with the help of the NCAA. Boudreaux, a hot offensive line prospect out of Orlando’s Bishop Moore Catholic School in 2016, originally signed with Notre Dame. After redshirting last season, however, Boudreaux decided to transfer back home to UCF to be able to help his family with his ailing sister, who has gone through a myriad of health issues during the past year.
The 6-foot-4, 288-pound guard, who can play either side of center, is hoping he will be eligible to play immediately at UCF. He has applied to the NCAA for a Family Hardship Waiver. If the NCAA rules in his favor, he would be immediately eligible to play and bypass the usual requirement of sitting out a season after transferring from another Football Bowl Subdivision school.
“It’s coming any day now,” Boudreaux said Thursday of the response from the NCAA. “You never know what day it’s coming because they’ve been reviewing it for a while, but I’m just praying every single night that I can play this year because that would be awesome.”
UCF offensive line coach Greg Austin said should the waiver come back in Boudreaux’s favor, there’s no question he could have an immediate impact with the Knights up front.
“He’s been thriving since he’s been here and he’s been awesome to have,” Austin said. “He’s a talented player and that was known coming out of high school.
“Every day I see him working on his craft to get better and better and better, so certainly he’s a player that’s going to help us in the near future. Certain things we don’t know … we just have to let the processes kind of develop and see how soon that’s going to be.”
Boudreaux was a member of the Bishop Moore 2015 Class 5A state championship team that defeated Wakulla and current Florida Gators’ quarterback Feleipe Franks. Boudreaux was ranked the No. 18 offensive guard in the country, according to the 247Sports.com’s composite rankings for the Class of 2016.
His freshman year at Notre Dame got off to a rough start when he was diagnosed with viral meningitis and was hospitalized briefly almost upon arrival for summer school in South Bend, Ind. He ended up sitting out last season as a redshirt and sometimes felt helpless, from a family standpoint, while hearing about different health issues his sister began facing.
“My sister was not doing that well for about a whole year,” Boudreaux said. “She was in and out of the hospital for a long time and so coming back, closer to my family … I think it’s a great fit [at UCF].”
His family is certainly glad to have him home. Parker has one other sister, Caitlyn, a 15-year-old West Orange student. Maddy is still regaining her strength.
“They never really diagnosed her with anything. She was hospitalized twice for over a week each time and she had a feeding tube for about three months or so,” said Sarah Boudreaux, Parker’s mother. “Her stomach just wasn’t digesting her food, but the feeding tube fixed it.”
“She’s doing much better now, but she’s been going through all of this since November or so. She’s finally kind of turning the corner. ”
Maddy, a 13-year-old who attends Sun Ridge Middle School in Winter Garden, missed all of the final nine weeks of school last spring.
“At the time, Parker was up at Notre Dame and in the process of transferring and even this summer she still had the feeding tube and everything and she was pretty much homebound,” Sarah Boudreaux said.
As Parker Boudreaux awaits the NCAA ruling on the waiver, he’s still a part of the UCF team and going through preseason camp with the rest of his teammates.
Boudreaux, a versatile lineman who can play any position along the offensive front, adds extra depth at the guard spot because of his ability to play left or right guard. He said the offensive line welcoming committee at UCF has been quite beneficial to helping him with his transition.
“They’re awesome. I love those guys,” Boudreaux said. “They’re real down-toearth, genuine guys.”
It’s not always easy to make the transition to a new school and new team, but Boudreaux seems to have fit right in. He said the most difficult part has been learning the up-tempo Knights’ offense
“You need to know everything real fast … the hand signals and everything, and communication, but it’s going good,” Boudreaux said. “I would play any position they want me at. I’m trying to learn all positions so I know everything that is going on, what everybody’s doing.
“Wherever they need me, I’ll do it.”