Basketball Recruiting: Jabari Parker and Washington Update

Jabari Parker is said by some recruiting analysts as the best player in the country regardless of class. Scout and ESPN list him as the number one player in the 2013 class and Rivals has him listed at number two.

While there may be dispute on whether he is the best player in the country, there is no doubt that he is an impressive basketball player. The kind that can make an immediate impact, could find his way onto an NBA roster as soon as possible, and the type of recruit that could change a program, even with just one year on a team.

There have long been rumors that Parker and the University of Washington had mutual interest. Lorenzo Romar has been recruiting him since he reached high school (along with many other coaches). However, the big connection is Parker’s brother, Christian aka Chris.

There were rumors that Romar had offered Chris a chance to be a manager on staff at UW, and that Jabari would want to join his brother if he was at UW.

Here is where things get interesting, I received a tip the other day to this article which is connected to this interview of the two brothers (the interview is really long and has very little recruiting info, but listen if you want.) It is a Mormon “Sistas” radio show site. They interviewed Chris and Jabari and posted up a brief story of the two online.

The highlights from the interview are:

• Chris tells the ‘Sistas’ that he is attending UW and “trying to get his degree”. He transferred from BYU-Hawaii.
• Chris also says, “I have been Jabari’s hype man for a long time.”
• Chris says he is “unofficially part of the (UW) staff.” He said being officially on staff requires getting a paycheck and as an undergraduate he can’t receive a paycheck.
• Chris says his pull for Jabari to come to UW is a “very indirect influence.” He quoted his father as saying “It does but it doesn’t influence him.”
• Mentions his father and Lorenzo Romar as being in contact with each other.
• Jabari answers a question as to where he wants to go as, “every school is in contention on my list. It is up to the Lord, I will do praying and fasting to help decide.”
• A caller asks Jabari about his dad’s unwillingness to fly and wants to know if that will make him want to choose something closer to Chicago. Jabari’s response was no it doesn’t affect his decision.

The article said a couple sentences that also has you raise an eyebrow for the UW and Jabari Parker link.

"Christian & Jabari Parker are brothers from the South Side of Chicago who have been inseparable since their brotherhood came to be."

These two are really close and the interview shows that they are pretty tight. The article lists them as inseparable, even though currently one is in Chicago and the other is in Seattle.

"Christian now lives in Seattle and plans on attending the University of Washington."

In the interview, Christian says he is already at the University of Washington and helping out with the basketball program. He said it influences his brother but his brother’s choice is still up to him and he will remain his older brother either way.

This makes you wonder if UW is a favorite. What do you think of this new information?