Parker, ranked the nation's No. 2 senior, picked Duke over Michigan State, BYU, Florida and Stanford on Thursday afternoon.
Jabari Parker
Sporting News
Jabari Parker is listed as the No. 2 player in the 2013 recruiting class, and that might be true. It’s hard to say. No one has seen him play a basketball game in full health for nearly a year.
What is certain is that whether he’s No. 1, 2, 3 or even 10 — he’s way better than 10, but just trying to work in a margin for error — the Duke Blue Devils are getting an extraordinary prospect.
Parker picked Duke over Michigan State, BYU, Florida and Stanford on Thursday afternoon.
Although Duke has turned out national players of year such as Jason Williams, Shane Battier, Elton Brand and Christian Laettner, it would appear Parker, a senior at Simeon Career Academy in Chicago, is the most esteemed prospect coach Mike Krzyzewski has landed in more than 30 years on the Duke bench.
In choosing Duke, Parker went with the school that will provide a slightly less developed lineup around him. The Blue Devils lose both their starting frontcourt players, Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly, after this season as well as shooting guard Seth Curry. Of course, Parker figures to replace Curry in the lineup with impressive freshman Rasheed Sulaimon sliding over to Curry’s position and Parker giving the Blue Devils a legitimate small forward.
Look at Duke’s history, however. When the Blue Devils have been able to put a gifted true small forward on the floor — such players are rare — they’ve often been in the championship neighborhood. Grant Hill won championships at that position in 1991 and 1992. Mike Dunleavy won in 2001. Kyle Singler did it in 2010. Like Luol Deng in 2003-04 and Singler for parts of his career, Parker also could slide over to power forward if necessary.
At one point, Parker was listed as the No. 1 prospect in 2013 and was acclaimed by Sports Illustrated as the best high school player since LeBron James. But that was before Canada’s Andrew Wiggins chose to graduate a year earlier than expected and also before Parker missed months of summer basketball and offseason training with a foot injury.
Parker played through the injury for USA Basketball in the Under-17 World Championships. He had to miss three games because of his broken foot but did return in the championship game against Australia, turning a tight game into a blowout with an impressive 12-point effort in only 14 minutes on the court.
Although Parker was obviously injured, there was some public pressure for him to appear at the Peach Jam tournament in South Carolina in mid-July and challenge Wiggins for the honor of being considered the top prep player, but Parker wisely passed. Even as the high school season started at Simeon, he was not yet in playing shape. In a televised game two weeks ago, he appeared a tad overweight and was not dynamic and it’s unlikely he’ll play again until late December.
His career at Simeon has been one of the most impressive in recent high school history. He became the first freshman to start in the high school’s history. He was named first-team all-state as a sophomore. His teams have won three consecutive state championships and are favored to make it four in a row.
“And not only does Parker have elite talent, he has championship intangibles,” ESPN recruiting analyst Dave Telep told the Detroit Free Press. “That's the key.”