Two potential Duke teammates next year face off tonight as Blue Devil target Jabari Parker—playing for his high school Simeon Career Academy of Chicago, Ill.—takes on Duke signee Matt Jones of DeSoto high school (DeSoto, Tex.) tonight at 9:30. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Simeon (1-0)—the three-time defending state champs and the No. 1 ranked team in the ESPN high school basketball power ranking—is led by Parker, who is the No. 2 player in the class of 2013 according to ESPN.
News broke yesterday that Parker, a 6-foot-8 small forward, will announce his highly anticpated college decision on Dec. 20, and it will likely be either Duke or Michigan State.
Coming off foot surgery over the summer, Parker is not in prime form at this point in the season. On Dec. 1, the versatile swingman returned to the court for the first time since July and played very limited minutes in a 56-35 win over Milton (Ga.).
DeSoto (10-1), meanwhile, is one of the best squads in Texas and currently occupies the No. 19 spot in the ESPN high school basketball power rankings.
The No. 36 overall player and No. 8 shooting guard in the class of 2013, per ESPN, Jones—a 6-foot-4 sharpshooter—signed his letter of intent to play at Duke in November.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, and other members of his staff, are expected to be in attendance for the game.
On Monday night, Kryzyewski was in Minnesota to watch 2014 point guard Tyus Jones—the No. 1 player in the class—score 36 points in a win. The next day Krzyzewski traveled to Ottawa, Kan. to visit his other signee in the class of 2013, small forward Semi Ojeleye.
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