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Jabari Parker--the nation's most heralded high school basketball recruit--has narrowed his list of potential college destinations to five schools, including BYU. The other schools on Parker's list are Duke, Florida, Michigan State and Stanford.
Parker's family and high school coach confirmed the selection on Friday, with coach Robert Smith cited as saying that Parker, "who is Mormon, didn't include BYU out of generosity."
"All five schools are schools he's really interested in and really thinking about attending," Smith said in the aforementioned article. "He's really thinking about BYU. I know his faith has a lot to do with it. The coaching staff has been great with him. They've been a winning program. That's one of his choices."
The article states Parker will take all five of his allotted official visits and see every campus in person. Parker has already recorded multiple unofficial visits to BYU.
Given Parker's familiarity with BYU, its coaches and players, BYU staffers had been unsure whether the Simeon HS sensation would ultimately travel to Provo with one of his official visits, even though the presumption had been that every school in his final five would get an official trip. Today's news gives BYU coaches the valuable opportunity to formalize their interest in Parker, and for Parker to get another feel for what campus life at BYU would be like.
Regardless of his final decision, Dave Rose, his coaches and the entire program deserve a measure of commendation. Parker's LDS faith makes BYU an understandably intriguing option, but only the hoops program's proven record makes it also an attractive and competitively prudent one.
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