Last week, the NCAA passed a rule that could have made life for programs like UConn a lot easier over the years. Coaches are now allowed to call and text high school recruits as much as they please. That means any team who is interested in landing Jabari Parker, the No. 1-ranked high school recruit from the class of 2013, is welcome to call or text him at any time to give their sales pitch. That is, as long as they don’t mind speaking to his parents first.
According to ESPN Chicago.com, Jabari’s parents Sonny and Lola Parker have forbidden him from giving out his personal number to college coaches.
“Everybody doing their job, but they still can’t have Jabari’s number,” Sonny explained on Tuesday. “That ain’t changed. We want him to enjoy being who he is. If he wants to talk, we’ll ask him first. Right now, we don’t want him to be over-bombarded because coaches can sometimes be aggressive, and that can be overwhelming.”
Sonny said Jabari changed his number recently when the new rule was made, although he added that all of the coaches have been respectful of their wishes and have not tried to contact Jabari directly. From a coaching standpoint, this isn’t the end of the world. With coaches constantly telling recruits anything they want to hear to get them to commit to their program, many high schoolers lean heavily on their parents for advice anyway.
“I talked to (Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski) the other day,” Sonny said. “He wished me a Happy Father’s Day. My voicemail is filled. It’s been filled for a year.”
Considering some of the stuff his high school coach is known for doing, Parker must be used to strict rules. If what they say about his game is true, that phone is going to ring nonstop until he makes a decision about his future.
Photo credit: Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE
