'13 IL SF Jabari Parker (Duke Verbal)

[Buckskin86]

Boys basketball | Simeon's Jabari Parker featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated
May 15, 2012|Tribune staff report

Simeon junior Jabari Parker's story -- his dedication to his Mormon faith and his off-the-charts basketball skills -- is a familiar one in Chicago. Now a national audience gets a glimpse into his world.

Sports Illustrated's May 21 issue features Parker on the cover and an impressive spread on the inside, with a story proclaiming Parker the "best high school basketball player since LeBron James" whose faith is more important to him than instant NBA stardom.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...parker-boys-basketball-high-school-basketball

 

[billmac91]

Desperate times call for desperate measures if you're SI I guess....

To label this kid the best high school player since LeBron is nuts. He's good, don't get me wrong, but LeBron was a well known name in 8th grade to basketball junkies. Jabari isn't even the consensus #1 player in his class amongst the recruiting services.

Feels like a disservice to the reader because they're getting bad info, but probably more of a disservice to Jabari b/c he's the one who will have to live up to the hype.

 

[OH10]

Desperate times call for desperate measures if you're SI I guess....

To label this kid the best high school player since LeBron is nuts. He's good, don't get me wrong, but LeBron was a well known name in 8th grade to basketball junkies. Jabari isn't even the consensus #1 player in his class amongst the recruiting services.

Feels like a disservice to the reader because they're getting bad info, but probably more of a disservice to Jabari b/c he's the one who will have to live up to the hype.

I agree.

 

[TresselstillownsTSUN]

Desperate times call for desperate measures if you're SI I guess....

To label this kid the best high school player since LeBron is nuts. He's good, don't get me wrong, but LeBron was a well known name in 8th grade to basketball junkies. Jabari isn't even the consensus #1 player in his class amongst the recruiting services.

Feels like a disservice to the reader because they're getting bad info, but probably more of a disservice to Jabari b/c he's the one who will have to live up to the hype.

Everything you said was on point.

 

[NorthCoastKid]

I think most basketball analysts consider Andrew Wiggins to be a better HS player than Parker.

 

[OSUBucks22]

I think most basketball analysts consider Andrew Wiggins to be a better HS player than Parker.

Both are completely phenomenal. Neither are LeBron though.

 

[OSUBucks22]

Desperate times call for desperate measures if you're SI I guess....

To label this kid the best high school player since LeBron is nuts. He's good, don't get me wrong, but LeBron was a well known name in 8th grade to basketball junkies. Jabari isn't even the consensus #1 player in his class amongst the recruiting services.

Feels like a disservice to the reader because they're getting bad info, but probably more of a disservice to Jabari b/c he's the one who will have to live up to the hype.

Not disagreeing on the premise, but who doesn't have him #1? Rivals, Scout, ESPN, Max Preps, Hoop Scoop all do...

 

[PlanetFrnd]

Saw a lot of Parker on TV this season... He's very good, I can easily see why he might be the best in America... Nowhere near the specimen LBJ was in HS

 

[neilmj]

Maybe it's just me, but does it seem like he's not exactly the quickest player? No doubt he's the top-2 in all of high school (him and Wiggins), and his game is great, but looking at youtube videos he just more methodical about driving to the rim instead of just beating people off the dribble. For comparison, I'd say Wiggins looks a lot quicker. I'm just curious if other people see what I'm seeing. Again, this is like splitting hairs, just something peculiar I noticed.

 

[BayBuck]

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...parker-boys-basketball-high-school-basketball

It's actually a really good and interesting article about the rarity of Parker as an African-American Mormon, and he sounds like a great all-around kid with a great family and support system, but the unnecessary sensationalism ("best HS player since LeBron" is trumpeted at least 3 times in the mag) is just lazy and brings it down a big notch.

Obviously everybody's disappointed about Greg Oden's injury history, but he was a 3-time state champ and 2-time Gatorade national player of the year. Parker is at most the best HS player since Oden (or even Brandon Knight).

 

[MaxBuck]

Do not care if he is a Mormon.

Do not care if he is Catholic.

Do not care if he is a Moonie.

Do not even care if he is homo sapiens.

 

[Buckskin86]

Jabari Parker is a rare recruit
The No. 1 overall player in the ESPN 100 is humble but still driven to be the best ever
Originally Published: May 23, 2012
By Mitch Sherman | ESPN RecruitingNation

Basketball always ranked as the backup plan for Jabari Parker.

Education and his faith came first. They still do.

"Basketball is going to end," Parker said.

Matt Marcinkowski/ESPNHS
Jabari Parker already has numerous accolades. Now you can add No. 1 on the ESPN 100 to the list.

Strange talk from a kid who turned 17 in March and graced the cover of Sports Illustrated last week, labeled as the best high school player since LeBron James, who took his game straight from the Ohio prep courts to NBA stardom in 2003.

But that's Parker, a three-time 4A state champion at Chicago's Simeon Career Academy and the No. 1-ranked prospect in the newly released ESPN 100 for the Class of 2013.

As uncommon as his talent and promise rate in basketball, Parker's attitude toward the sport and perspective on life are perhaps just as rare.

Parker cried when John Wooden died in 2010.

His basketball idol? Oscar Robertson, same as his father, Sonny Parker, a former first-round draft pick of Golden State who played six seasons in the NBA.

When the hype around Jabari began to mount early in his high school career and outsiders compared his impact to Derrick Rose, who led Simeon to state titles in 2006 and 2007, Sonny and his wife, Lola, grew concerned. Jabari, though, told his parents not to get caught up in the attention.

"Even when he was 14, it was just amazing," Sonny said. "He's a throwback in how he holds it all in."

cont...

http://espn.go.com/chicago/story/_/id/7964581/jabari-parker-no-1-espn-100-rare-recruit

 

[DubCoffman62]

Desperate times call for desperate measures if you're SI I guess....

To label this kid the best high school player since LeBron is nuts. He's good, don't get me wrong, but LeBron was a well known name in 8th grade to basketball junkies. Jabari isn't even the consensus #1 player in his class amongst the recruiting services.

Feels like a disservice to the reader because they're getting bad info, but probably more of a disservice to Jabari b/c he's the one who will have to live up to the hype.

I remember seeing Jason Kidd's picture on some sports magazine when he was an 8th grader.

 

[Buckskin86]

Jabari Parker yet to narrow list
Updated: June 2, 2012
By Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com

RIVERSIDE, Ill. -- In an effort to allow him to be a normal teenager before diving into college basketball recruiting, Jabari Parker's family is going to limit his media availability this summer.

Parker, a 6-foot-9 forward at Simeon Career Academy in Chicago, is ranked the No. 1 junior in the country by ESPN and recently appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

"Basketball never stops, so we're getting ready to shut it down for him," Parker's father, Sonny, said. "He just wants to continue to be a kid, watch cartoons, hang out with friends and everything.

"I think Jabari is the first (high school) player who has experienced this social media stuff. LeBron (James) and Kobe (Bryant) never experienced that. Jabari can't go to the bathroom without being on Twitter. It's the first time a player of his caliber you know he plays a game, gets out of the shower and he's on YouTube."

Sonny said all the attention has gotten to his son.

"It's overwhelming," Sonny said. "It could be a distraction sometimes because he still has to stay in the same routine. I think the distractions sometimes can get overwhelming.

"He doesn't like a lot of attention. He's managing. With all the interviews, they want to do a book, they want to do a movie, they want to do a documentary, those things. He says, 'Dad, why do they have to follow me to school and church and home and everything?' He's trying to get used to that."

Parker's upcoming schedule won't help with that, either. He plans to attend the NBPA Top 100 camp, train in Colorado and play in Lithuania with Team USA's U17 squad, play in a couple Nike EYBL events and travel to Los Angeles to attend the ESPYS.

If Parker had his way, he'd be in the gym improving his game.

"He wants to be back in the gym," Sonny said. "He wants to get back in the gym and do his workouts. He doesn't have a lot to prove. Of course, he's the biggest target. He's the hunted."

As for recruiting, Sonny said they'd start creating a list of colleges at the end of the summer. Sonny said it was still wide open at this point.

"He's going to narrow it down," Sonny said. "He's going to take his visits and he's going to make his decision."

cont...

http://espn.go.com/chicago/story/_/...uit-jabari-parker-chicago-less-media-exposure

 

[Buckskin86]

Which school will Parker choose?

Nearly every observer, including Coleman, believes Parker will attend Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky or Michigan State because he has made it clear that he wants to win a NCAA championship in what most perceive will be his one and only year in college before opting for the NBA draft.

"The team that has the early lead is Duke. They have been there the longest and Parker has talked about them the most," Coleman said. "I have no gut feeling (about Parker's choice). He is pretty laid back. But the premise is correct. Michigan State also would be a front-runner. Kansas is a darkhorse. And I wonder if Arizona might become a factor."

http://www.csnchicago.com/preps/news/Coleman-Will-Randle-pass-Parker?blockID=725328&feedID=629

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_vo7K3SRS0"]Jabari Parker Talks NBA & Mormonism On Good Morning America 6/14/12 - YouTube[/ame]