LOGAN, Utah – Former Utah State basketball and football player Scott Parrish died on Wednesday, June 29. He was 69.
Parrish was a three-year letterwinner for the Aggies on the gridiron from 1973-75, helping the team amass an overall record of 21-12 during that span.
The native of Logan, Utah, excelled in both basketball and football at Logan High School. After earning a scholarship to play basketball at Utah State, Parrish spent the 1971-72 season as a member of the freshman team.
Playing center for the Aggies, Parrish appeared in 17 of the team's 19 games, averaging 3.2 points and 3.2 rebounds each time out. Utah State finished the year with a 17-2 record, including a perfect 11-0 at home.
Parrish played offensive tackle for the football team and helped running back Louie Giammona lead the nation in rushing at 153.4 yards per game in 1974. Giammona would later be selected a second-team All-American by United Press International (UPI) and a third-team All-American by The Associated Press.
Following his collegiate career, Parrish was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fifth round (127th overall pick) of the 1976 NFL Draft. He never made the final roster in New Orleans, but dressed for two games late in the '76 season for the Denver Broncos.
Parrish, who graduated from Utah State in 1976 with a bachelor's degree from the college of agriculture, went on to complete his graduate degree at Washington State, where he earned his master's degree in crop physiology, along with doctorate degrees in agronomy, minor plant breeding and minor soil sciences.
After graduating from Washington State, Parrish accepted a research and development position with Monsanto in St. Louis, Missouri. While there, his ability to create products to assist in controlling weed growth was met with great success sending him throughout the world. He cherished his opportunities as he witnessed the effectiveness of the products he had created to improve farming and food production in many underdeveloped countries.
After his time at Monsanto, Parrish continued his desire to help feed the world by creating his own agricultural research and development company AgraSyst Inc. The father of six enjoyed a long and successful career in ag research, where he had numerous professional achievements, including the discovery and development of multiple herbicides and other agricultural inputs that greatly shaped modern agriculture.
Parrish was born on June 6, 1953, to Wallace and Treva (Killian) Parrish. He later married his high school sweetheart, Lynn Margaret Broadbent, in September of 1977.
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