Jabari Parker Will Not Attend Mormon Mission in 2013

Star Simeon Academy forward Jabari Parker, the nation’s No. 2 senior, said Friday he will attend college rather than go on a Mormon mission next year.

“I know for a fact I’m going to college my first year,” Parker said on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000.

Hold your horses. Jabari Parker will not be attending an LDS mission in 2013 and that should be huge news especially for any BYU or Duke fan who is still hoping to see him on the hardwood next year.

This does not mean, however, that Parker will not go on a mission the following year.

The only reason he had a decision to make about next year was because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently lowered the minimum age for going on missions to 18. So Parker could have gone on a two year mission and then gone straight into the NBA. This will not be the case, though.

Where Parker will attend college is still up for grabs. His list is down to five schools and has made official visits recently to Duke, Michigan State, Florida and BYU. He also plans to visit Stanford.

Parker’s college decision was expected to come in November and then was pushed back to December. He said Friday that it won’t come now until January or February.

Parker was given the star treatment on his recent visit to BYU. The Cougars fans made him a “Gangnam Style” parody video and printed 6,000-plus T-shirts, reading “Chicago to Provo”. The fans wore the shirts during the BYU game he attended.

http://youtu.be/h_Z–BUAnio

“It was crazy,” Parker said. “Just hearing the video and the people with the T-shirts, it was a little bit too much for me at the time. But like I said, let’s have fun with it, let’s make it a good experience. I’m just thankful to all the fans for putting the time and effort for doing that.”

It seems from that quote that Parker was flattered, but put off a bit by the crazy attention at BYU. This may be the beginning of Parker slipping away from BYU in the recruiting process and I also doubt that Parker will attend a mission after his freshman because he wants to be in the NBA one day. But the possibility is still there.