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Yesterday, December 20th, Jabari Parker, one of the top players in the US, chose to join the Duke team instead of B.Y.U..
Jabari Parker managed to lead Simeon to three consecutive Illinois state championships and he also appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated several months ago as “the best high school basketball player since LeBron James.”
“Everybody knows I hate attention,” Parker said at the news conference. “I almost had to do it this way. It wasn’t a choice for me. A lot of people wanted to know, and it would be selfish for me not to.”
He said that secondary education for him is of utmost importance as he likes kids and teaching people. When asked what he might major in he said that because he likes animals, biology might be a factor. Last month Jabari visited the Brigham Young creating a frenzy among students who printed T-shirts with the slogan ‘From Chicago to Provo.’
“It’s just Coach K,” Parker said, referring to Mike Krzyzewski, Duke’s longtime coach. “He’s one of the best coaches ever, and I want to be able to experience the things he has.”
But Parker’s apparently smooth life had several bumps, one this summer when he fractured a bone in his right foot while playing for the US team in the FIBA U-17 World Championships in Lithuania. Trying to return for Simeon’s season as soon as possible, he aggravated the injury and he will most certainly be sided for the rest of December.
