In this photo taken in Chicago, Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, Jabari Parker dunks the ball during the City basketball Championship game against Proviso East.
Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated Press
Prep basketball superstar Jabari Parker reportedly has narrowed down his list of potential college destinations to five — and BYU is on that list.
Reggie Rankin, a scout and analyst for ESPN Recruiting, tweeted Friday afternoon: "Just spoke with ESPN #1 player Jabari Parker. List cut to 5. No order Stanford, BYU, Duke, Mich St, Florida."
Parker, who is a member of the LDS Church, is widely considered to be one of the top high school players in the country. Last spring, Parker graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, which proclaimed him "the best high school basketball player since LeBron James."
Parker's high school coach, Robert Smith, insists that BYU's inclusion on Parker's short list is not just a token gesture.
"All five schools are schools he's really interested in and really thinking about attending," Smith told ESPN's Scott Powers. "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 got a winning program. That's one of his choices."
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Jeff Call has been a sportswriter for the Deseret News since 1997. He is the BYU beat writer and has been covering Cougar sports since 1993, when he served as sports editor at the Daily Universe. Call has written several more ..
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Wondering if the church's decision to lower the eligible mission age will influence Jabari's decision. I know that he is considering a mission, but will he now choose to go on a mission first and then look at schools afterwards?
Jabari could go on a mission and skip college altogether. Wouldn't recommend the skipping school part, though. Even one year can help shape a person's ability to better understand and function in the world. Earning millions is one thing. More..
With the changes announced in Conference to mission ages today, I was thinking the same thing as Rational. This change could very well remove college ball from Parker's future.