But 78 points later, it’s all paid off.

Parker, a Faribault native who played for Faribault High School his freshman and sophomore seasons before leaving for juniors, committed to play Division I hockey last month. He will join the WCHA’s University of Alabama-Huntsville next season.

“It’s obviously fantastic,” said his dad, Scott Parker, who also played hockey at FHS. “All the hard work he has done since he was a ninth-grader in high school to achieve his goal of playing DI hockey has finally paid off.”

Parker, who played this last year as a defenseman for the Brookings Blizzard of the NAHL, is believed to be just the seventh former Falcons varsity boys hockey player to make a DI commitment. Several other players with Faribault ties have played at that level, but the majority of them played bantam hockey and above at Shattuck-St. Mary’s after going through the Faribault Hockey Association.

Parker helped the Falcons to a 20-7 record and top seed in the Section 1A Tournament as a sophomore defenseman in 2009-10, racking up seven goals, a team-high 35 assists and 42 points (fifth on the team) in his second year on varsity. After the season the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede used their 17th pick of the draft to select Parker, who later tried out for the team. He didn’t make it – not many that age do – but they suggested he play junior hockey. That led him to the Russell Stover hockey club, a midget AAA team in Overland Park, Kansas, the next year, and his journey began.

“That’s what kind of started my hockey career away from home, and I wouldn’t change it for the world,” Parker said. “It was a good experience to move away and realize real life things and venture out, and I haven’t looked back.”

The next year he moved to Alexandria, where he also graduated from high school, and joined the Alexandria Blizzard of the NAHL, but his season was cut short due to shoulder surgery. That was followed by stints with the Brookings Blizzard – after Alexandria relocated to Brookings, S.D., the next year – and the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL in 2012-13.

He was in and out of the lineup in Sioux Falls − a Tier I league compared to the Tier II NAHL − so he was sent to Brookings to receive more playing time. But Parker said he got better because of it.

“I was able to learn and face adversity a little bit, and it helped me in the long run,” Parker said. “You just have to look at it in a positive way and prove people wrong.”

Parker spent the entire 2013-14 season with the Blizzard and had the best season of his career, and he even turned down a chance to rejoin the Stampede in the USHL. They called him in late January offering a spot, but he respectfully declined.

“I just felt like where I was at I was doing well and I didn’t see that I needed to change it,” he said. “It felt right. My gut feeling said stay in Brookings and be a team leader because I never had the opportunity. I feel like it was the right decision, but in the end I want to play college hockey. Everything happens for a reason – I’m a big believer in things happening for a reason.”

The 5-foot-9, 180-pound blue-liner had 10 goals, 24 assists and 34 points in 59 games this season, which was more points than his previous two seasons combined (albeit one shortened due to injury). He was the NAHL’s Defenseman of the Month in December when he recorded 11 points in nine games.

“Brandon has matured into an all-around defenseman,” said Cory Laylin, Brookings’ head coach and GM. “He makes a great first pass and controls the play in the defensive zone. He plays physical for an undersized defenseman. He makes solid offensive decisions and quarterbacks our power play, which will translate at the next level. Our organization is extremely proud of his development.”

Parker’s 34 points tied him for the seventh-highest scoring defensemen in the league, and his 24 assists tied him for 12th among defensemen. He ended the season tied for second on the team in scoring, but he was the top-scoring defensemen on the squad by 20 points.

Despite Brookings’ 18-34-8 record (it missed the playoffs), Parker’s play landed him on Team Central of the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament in February in Troy, Mich. That’s where he caught the eye of the UAH staff, and they arranged for  Parker to visit campus in the near future.

“It was a great opportunity and I was very happy,” Parker said. “I was very fortunate.”

The day after the camp ended, Parker visited Ohio State’s campus, but soon that spot in the Buckeyes’ lineup was   gobbled up by a different prospect, which Parker said, “made   my decision a little easier” to go to UAH.

It all happened quickly, and just in time, too.

Due to his age – Parker turned 21 in February – this would have been his last year in junior hockey. He enrolled in college and took online classes this year, which allowed him to keep four years of NCAA eligibility. He’ll join a Chargers team that finished 2-25-1 in the WCHA last season under new head coach Mike Corbett.

“I wouldn’t trade anything in the world for it,” Parker said. “Junior hockey was a fun part of my life, and the next chapter of my life will be with school and hockey and a social life. It will be a fun ride and I look forward to it.”