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Heralded 2013 hoops prospect Jabari Parker has reportedly cut his list to a final five, according to Reggie Ranking of ESPN Recruiting:
Just spoke with ESPN 100 #1 player Jabari Parker. List cut to five. No order Stanford, BYU, Duke, Mich St, Florida
— Reggie Rankin (@ReggieRankin) October 5, 2012
*clears throat* .....
Parker, the 6'8", 220-pound forward from Chicago, is widely regarded as the #1 recruit of the 2013 class. Throughout his recruitment, speculation has raged as to whether or not Parker, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was merely giving BYU a kind nod given its relationship with the Church.
But as Parker's list has thinned, BYU has remained.
At this point, regardless of the outcome, major kudos to Dave Rose and staff for being able to stick in the game this long with the likes of Tom Izzo, Mike Krzyzewski, and Billy Donovan. Some would say "If Parker wasn't LDS, he would never consider BYU." While that might be true, he would also never consider BYU if they weren't winning 25 games per year, either.
Parker's high school coach Robert Smith had this to say about BYU's appearance on the list:
Smith said Parker, who is Mormon, didn't include BYU out of generosity.
"All five schools are schools he's really interested in and really thinking about attending," Smith said. "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 been a winning program. That's one of his choices." - Robert Smith (via ESPN)
This comes on the heels of BYU releasing its first commercial for the 2012-13 season. I'm pretty excited now.