The Western Washington region is a comfortable place for basketball player Parker Manalo.

Manalo, who played the past two seasons for the Bellevue College Bulldogs men’s basketball team, signed a letter of intent in early June to continue his hoops career with the Northwest University Eagles college basketball program in Kirkland. Manalo graduated from Jackson High School (Mill Creek) in June 2017.

“It is really cool just to be a local kid and continue playing at the next level over and over. It is a blessing for sure,” Manalo said. “Northwest was definitely one of my favorite schools. I really wanted to be close to home. I had a couple of other options but I felt like Northwest was the perfect place for me. It also helps that my sister (Peyton) is going to be a freshman playing soccer at Northwest this fall.”

Manalo hopes to compete for playing time right off the bat.

“I want to go in there and compete for minutes just like anybody else. I have been working extremely hard over the off-season. I have goals of contributing with my outside shooting and specifically being able to space the floor and just score the basketball,” Manalo said.

Manalo is grateful for the time he spent the past two seasons with the Bulldogs basketball program.

“I enjoyed being able to play under a great coaching staff. They not only helped me improve as a basketball player but also as a person off the court,” Manalo said. “I have known coach (Donald) Brady since I was in the fifth grade.”