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By Erin Ashley Simon
Picking a college or a university can be a daunting task for any college bound person. Evaluations can include a myriad of factors and considerations like location, college size and diversity, academic standing, financial, social and academic support, reputation and so forth.
However, for student-athletes--especially the highest caliber athletic prospects, they consider additional intangibles like how large and great the athletic facilities are, some commit to their school of choice because of fan loyalty, believe it or not other prospects look at dating factors like how ‘hot’ or not ones student base is.
Finally serious student athletes make the ultimate choice based upon intrinsic values like how persistent the head coaches pursue these recruits and establish trusting relationships with the players to help them make one of the biggest decisions about their respective futures.
Chicago high school basketball scout Daniel Poneman personally believes that highly profiled small forward Jabari Parker, the #1 Player in the Class of 2013, could narrow down his college selections to two specific schools based upon the key elements of how frequently and how long an institution and coaching staff have been tracking this young star.
The two schools Poneman could see Jabari Parker seriously considering are Duke University and Michigan State University. The primary option Duke touts the accomplishments and laurels of their famous Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski (NCAA Division I winningest Coach in history) as their biggest advantage and obvious influence that attracts top basketball recruits, but it is not the only factor that Daniel believes will influence Jabari. “The fact that there seems to be a historical trend where a lot of NBA professional players’ kids choose to go to Duke, I do not know why” Poneman states, “I remember when Jabari came back from his first visit to Duke he said he was excited because Coach K compared him to Kobe Bryant and Grant Hill.”
The latter option, Michigan State, is a university that speaks to the heart and character of Parker himself. Loyalty and hard work are qualities that Poneman says strike a chord within Jabari Parker, a chord that Michigan has been able to strum and play throughout his recruiting process. “I think that Michigan State’s head coach Tom Izzo has had a presence in the Simeon gym throughout Jabari’s entire career. He has always recruited him in honest and open ways, he has a relationship with the Parker family and I think that Jabari likes the hard working mentality of the Michigan State team,” Poneman says, “year after year they overachieve, based on the teams’ talent and that’s how Jabari sees himself, as someone who will overachieve.”
Do not be fooled to think that those are the only characteristics that an elite player at Parker’s stratosphere level will consider; of course the biggest attribute evaluated is how successful college basketball programs are at getting their players to the “NBA.” This factor is extremely important to players as talented as Parker.
Scouting oficiando Poneman believes that in the end it will really come down to one crucial thing, “I think another decision that will determine what school Jabari will ultimately choose is which school will prepare him best for the NBA; and Tom Izzo is widely considered the best coach in the game, he does the most with the least in the NCAA.”
But of course, Duke and Michigan State are not the only schools recruiting this top 2013 Prospect…
“Obviously Kentucky is an option,” Poneman adds, “They won a national championship in 2012 and were the No.1 team in the country.”
Even with this basketball prestige however, Poneman still does not believe that Kentucky will be able to attract Jabari Parker because of the low recruiting presence of Coach Calipari.
“I personally don’t think they are going to get Jabari plain and simple because Coach Cal has not had a presence in Simeon and has not made Jabari a recruiting priority,” Poneman clarifies.
Anthony Davis could possibly be the only recruit subjected to the “low presence” commitment, “Whereas with Anthony Davis, Coach Cal only went to one of his AAU games his senior year, yet the coach was able to close the deal with Davis without putting in the time or effort. But, with Jabari, he is a guy that is very loyal and he will not go and forget the coaches that put in the time and effort in recruiting him.” Daniel said.
So could Kentucky possibly lose out on Jabari Parker? It is possible.
But is it also possible that Duke could miss out and not receive Parker because of the recent commitment of small forward Semi Ojeleye? After some reflection, Poneman does not think so.
Either way the hunt continues for this prolific Class of 2013 No.1 recruit. The question remains, which basketball program and academic institution will ultimately end up on top of Jabari Parker’s final list?
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