elite recruit, but his Iowa State impact was stalled by injury and a transfer exit
Parkes arrived at Iowa State with real WR juice — ESPN tagged him as a four-star and a top-35 receiver in the 2023 recruiting class, and he even earned Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll recognition in 2024-25. But the on-field sample never materialized: Iowa State’s roster bio says he did not play in 2024 because of injury, and later reports showed he entered the transfer portal in December 2025 and remained there in January 2026. The appeal is obvious — length, pedigree, and upside — but teams should view him as a developmental bet with more projection than production.
