I wish he would pick BYU. It would be comical seeing that happen. I'm sure he will end up at Kentucky like everyone else.

BY MICHAEL O'BRIEN ~ mobrien@suntimes.com
July 11, 2012 6:51PM

Updated: July 11, 2012 6:58PM


Simeon rising senior Jabari Parker, widely considered the top player in the national class of 2013, tweeted his list of ten possible college destinations Wednesday.

It was not good news for new Illinois coach John Groce.

Parker named Kentucky, Stanford, Michigan State, Kansas, Florida, Duke, BYU, Georgetown, DePaul and North Carolina. Illinois was left off the list.

So barring any late change of mind, Illinois will once again miss out on the top in-state player. Aside from Jereme Richmond, every top in-state recruit in the past decade has wound up somewhere other than Champaign.

Parker has kept a tight lid on his college recruitment, but some recruiting analysts feel Michigan State is the current leader, with Duke a close second.

"If you know in your head, why string anyone along," recruiting analyst Joe Henricksen said. "It's been a tough situation with a completely new coaching staff in Champaign. It was a real inopportune time for Illinois to have the top player in the country in the state. It's not the fault of anyone in the Illinois camp or in the Parker camp."

Parker is expected to make his college choice sometime before the high school season starts in November.

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Nice of him to throw Depaul a bone. He's gonna pick Kentucky.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

He is mormon.

U of I fans are melting down right now about how they couldn't even make his top ten .

I'm guessing Kentucky will offer the highest signing bonus. Duke could always offer a parent a job.

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I know. SI had the huge article about how into the Mormon church he is. Still can't see that happening.

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I am an Illinois guy, but I never thought they had a chance. That said, him and his family actually seem like good people. I wouldn't be surprised if he picked a University for reasons other than what you would normally expect from the top HS player in the country (money, family jobs, cars, women, ect.)

Having a stable family life with a dad who already played professionally takes some of that out of the equation.

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He's a one year player. Probably not what Illinois needs right now anyway. In a different situation they may have been a player, but I don't consider it a disaster.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

JORR is right about Illinois not needing a one-year player, but landing a guy like this makes any school more of a desirable destination for others in the future. Plus, I'm guessing you get another blue-chipper or two to tag along with him for his year at the school which instantly makes you really damn good.





That being said:
DePaul

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Wait... Who thought this kid even considered Illinois?

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I think in a different situation they could have been a player. A situation where Illinois has a respected basketball program would've increased their chances one would think.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

True. That was what Richmond was supposed to do. Illinois is loaded with high school talent in the next few crops. I really don't see how Groce is an upgrade over Weber.

I don't think in a million years DePaul has a shot at Parker, but stranger things have happened. In a two years he's going to be in the NBA and traveling all the time. He may want to stay close to his family for one final year before that happens.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I don't know either of them personally, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Parker will not be nearly the headache for what ever school lands him......

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What do you mean by "respected basketball program"? Respected by whom?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Got a feeling Parker is playing for the Magic or Milwuakee in two years.

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No, but he'll be gone in a year too. I think it was clear with the hire of Groce that Illinois is not looking to be a player with those types of guys. At least it doesn't seem they are. If they were, there were a lot better guys you could have brought in. And you'd still lose most of them to Kentucky, UCLA, etc.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

The Bulls will have the number 1 pick next year, so he will still be close to home.

Jabari Parker, other top recruits, top coaching prospects, fans, other Big 10 schools, the sporting community in general. It's usually not a sign you are held in high regard when your top 37 coaching choices basically laugh at you and then choose schools like VCU.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

He's still gotta play 2more years of amateur basketball BC.

Still has senior high school season to play.

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Good call. 2 years, then. Bulls suck.

Im thinking orlando or milwaukee...

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Illinois is a top twenty-five program. We've gone over this when they were looking for a coach. So some guy prefers to stay at a mid-major rather than coach in the Big Ten. That's on him. Maybe he thinks he can get Kentucky or UCLA in a year or two. Illinois recruits just fine. They'll get good again.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I don't think you can claim Top 25 program when you are consistently out of the top 25.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

But that's not really true. They were in the championship game seven years ago. They've been in the top twenty a lot since then. They were there for about half of last season. And they produced a lottery pick.

I don't expect them to be Kentucky or Indiana or UCLA or Duke or North Carolina. They're like Purdue or St. John's or Maryland. Nothing wrong with that.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

They've been terrible to mediocre since 2005. Maryland has a much stronger program. St John's is comparable. Purdue sorta is but Purdue has had more success. Butler is a better program. I think you can name 30 or more schools that are comparable to Illinois, and another 20 that are indisputably better.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

But Butler isn't really a better program in a sustainable way. You know that. I'd probably say Maryland is a better program simply because they play in a conference where hoops is king. But they're really similar to Illinois. And they really haven't been "mediocre to terrible" since '05. In fact, they haven't been close to terrible. They've average over 20 wins per season over that time.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

@ this entire thread.

Groce rolling.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

JoRR. I gotta say, I don't think UofIll bball has the same brand name appeal it once did... Even 7 years removed from the champ game, U of I still struggles to land elite home grown talent... Its a shame.

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Why isn't Butler sustainable? You think Boise St's football success is unsustainable also?

They have been closer to terrible than good, but you're right. They haven't been either. Mediocre is a perfect word. You have to make the tournament almost every season to be a top 25 program, and you have to have success in the tournament more often than once a decade. The ACC excuse doesn't explain why OSU, MSU, Wisconsin, and probably Indiana and Purdue are all better basketball programs than Illinois.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

This is just wrong. Ohio State and Michigan State are better programs right now based upon dynamic coaches. I wouldn't say those are superior programs to Illinois. Certainly not historically. Indiana is still the best program in the Big Ten. It's probably fair to say the stability and sustained success at Michigan State under Izzo has moved it to the number two program in the conference.

A team like Butler is never going to have a better program over the long haul than any Big Ten team outside of Northwestern and possibly Nebraska and Penn State where no one cares much about hoops. You brought up Boise State. It would be like saying Boise State has a better football program than Michigan because Michigan has been down for a few seasons.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don