Unlike Bulls star Derrick Rose, who also went to Simeon, Parker did not hone his basketball prowess on the playground. Instead, according to Sports Illustrated, this 6-foot-8 forward perfected his jump shot on the small indoor basketball court at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hyde Park.
In fact, recognizing how much young Jabari and his older brother Christian loved basketball, the bishop gave them a church key so they could shoot hoops any time, the magazine reported.
The winner of the 2011-12 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award also became the first nonsenior to be named Mr. Basketball of Illinois, after leading Simeon to its third straight Class 4A state basketball championship this year.
But he stands out for his religion too. Of the 6.2 million Mormons in the U.S., only about 186,000, or 3 percent are black, according to the magazine article. Baptized in the Mormon church and ordained a priest at age 16, Parker also is one of only two Mormons out of 1,588 students at Simeon, the magazine said.
Every morning he rises at 5 a.m. to pray and at 5:30 a.m. three days a week, he heads for Bible study. Along with his iPod and sports gear, he carries a Book of Mormon in his backpack, Sports Illustrated said.
Simeon’s head basketball coach, Robert Smith, schedules Sunday practices in the afternoon, freeing Parker to attend morning worship services.
“I realize why I’m in the position I’m in right now,” Parker told Sports Illustrated. “It’s not because of me. It’s because of God.
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