Head Coach Kevin Ollie to visit top recruit Jabari Parker

While Jim Calhoun’s retirement is still fresh on the mind of many at UConn, his replacement Kevin Ollie has gotten straight to work, especially on the recruiting trail.

Late last week, Sonny Parker, the father of Jabari Parker, the reigning Gatorade national high school basketball player of the year and the No. 1 recruit for the Class of 2013, told ESPN Chicago that his son has added UConn to his list of potential schools to attend next fall.

This list was supposedly finalized in July when Parker, a small forward from Chicago, narrowed his list to 10 schools: BYU, DePaul, Duke, Florida, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and Stanford. But after Ollie was announced as Calhoun’s replacement, Parker decided to give UConn a look.

“It was Jabari’s decision,” Parker’s father said. “He’s picking all the schools for the home visits. He’s talked to Coach Calhoun previously before. That’s one of the schools that showed some interest to him. He’s had conversations with them previously. Of course, coach Kevin Ollie came in, and (Jabari) wanted them for a home visit.”
Speculation that UConn is realistically in for the No. 1 recruit in America does not stop with this late addition to a supposedly finalized list. When Calhoun retired, Parker took to Twitter and said, “Wishing Coach Calhoun the best, congrats on a great career and I have always been the biggest fan of UConn.”
UConn is also one of the final three schools for Xavier Rathan-Meyes, who is ranked No. 24 by ESPN. He will decide between Illinois, Florida State and UConn in October. He is scheduled to visit UConn on Saturday, Sept. 29.

Prior to his retirement, Calhoun also received verbal commitments from power forward Kentan Facey (No. 98 ESPN) and point guard Terrance Samuel, adding to a long line of New York City point guards to choose UConn.