The Duke basketball coaching staff are now down to recruiting two prospects from the class of 2013. With already two committed prospects — Matt Jones and Semilore Ojeleye — the Blue Devils look to add the final pieces to finish out, what has great potential to be a top-5 recruiting class. On Friday afternoon, the No. 1 ranked 2013 prospect officially trimmed his list with Duke sitting in great shape.

Jabari Parker, a 6-8 SF out of Simeon Career Academy, has cut his list of 11 schools down to 5. Per Reggie Rankin for ESPN.com, Parker is now down to: BYU, Duke, Florida, Michigan State and Stanford.

The news comes a day after Parker has scheduled an official visit with the Florida Gators from November 2-4. Parker is also scheduled to visit Duke on October 27th for Duke’s first exhibition game and Michigan State at a date to be determined. He was originally supposed to be on the Michigan State campus last weekend for the Ohio State football game but had to reschedule for later in the month. It has been talked about that Parker is still on track to make a final decision on his college destination in November.

In mid-July, Parker released a list of 10 schools that included his final 5 as well as DePaul, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina. Of those schools, the coaching staffs from Georgetown and Kentucky we’re the only schools that did not conduct in-home visits. Connecticut and new head coach Kevin Ollie was allowed an in-home visit that did not originally make the list.

With Parker’s top five made official, the one surprise to take away is DePaul failing to make the cut. Head coach Oliver Purnell pursued Parker relentlessly and made great headway in Parker’s recruitment. The in-state school was made a real contender for the past few months. However, Stanford head coach and former Duke associate head coach Johnny Dawkins has been able to make a great push going forward. With Stanford firmly in the running for the Parker, it’s a true testament to where coach Dawkins has the Stanford program since taking over in 2008.

As far as assumed favorites in regards to Parker, the 2 schools rumored to be sitting at the top of his list are Duke and Michigan State. The rumors stemming from the relationships that Parker has established with head coaches Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo.

As a junior, Parker had a tremendous on-court season. He averaged 19.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 3.3 blocks and 1.4 steals per game while leading Simeon to their best record in school history (33-1) and their third consecutive Class 4A state championship. Parker was recognized as the 2011-12 Gatorade National Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year and the first non-senior to capture the Illinois’ Mr. Basketball Award.

By Chad Lykins