By SAM LANCE
Class of 2025 four-star center Parker Jefferson plans to officially visit Virginia Tech, TCU, Texas A&M and LSU after Peach Jam, he told ZAGSBLOG.com.
Jefferson, the 6-foot-9, 230-pound center from Waxahachie (TX) and the Team Griffen Nike EYBL AAU program, is mainly hearing from those four schools as well as Colorado, Columbia, Harvard and Vermont. Here is his breakdown of some of those programs reaching out:
LSU: “I like LSU because coach [Ryan] McMahon, I feel like he is doing a better job each year. His first year wasn’t great, but I like the fact that he came back the next year and bounced back and had really double the wins they had the first year. So, I think I really like that program a lot just because he’s showed that he’s a good coach. People kind of criticized him a lot his first year because he didn’t have a lot of wins, but I always believed in him and I like what they do over there. I just like how they handle their players and I like how he plays his bigs. The last two years he’s had bigs kind of similar to me that can step out and shoot, kind of handle the ball, push the ball. So I feel like they like bigs like me.”
Texas A&M: “I just love coach Buzz [Williams]. My whole family loves him. My dad is in close contact with him. And I like the fact because right now he doesn’t have bigs like me. He kind of has bigger, bruiser guys that will run and jump. But I like when I went on my visit they showed me clips of when he was at Virginia Tech with forwards and bigs kind of me that are more skilled and can do the things that I can do. So I kind of like that they showed me, even though that they don’t have the guys right now, that if I come there, what they could do with me and they’ve proved it. So I kind of like that.”
TCU: “Love coach [Jamie] Dixon. Great coach. Just love their program, love their whole atmosphere they have. Their games are crazy. It’s a nice little school, private school. It’s nice. I like coach Dixon. I like how they play. I just like their program. It’s such a good program. They always have people that stay and great leaders.”
Colorado: “That’s another one I want to go visit but I haven’t really got to see them too much. But I really like kind of how they use their bigs as well. They kind of told me they like bigs more skilled and they like to go through their bigs. So I feel like I like that about Colorado. And it’s a good atmosphere. They got the whole football thing rolling and just that atmosphere, it’s crazy.”
Virginia Tech: “Never been there, but that’s a place I want to go. Virginia Tech is known for having good forwards. So I feel like I just like that environment. I like the coaches. I like coach [Mike] Young. I like coach [Kevin] Giltner. Coach Giltner, the assistant has been taking to me. So just those guys, they’ve been in close contact with me and my parents. We’re in a group chat. They’re always sending stuff. So I just like how in touch they are and the relationship we’ve been building.”
Jefferson has taken unofficial visits to Texas A&M, LSU, Arkansas (twice) and TCU several times because it’s 45 minutes away from his home. The center said that A&M and TCU have been recruiting him for the longest period of time.
On the Nike EYBL circuit this summer, Jefferson has posted a few solid games including a 13-point game where he made 6-of-6 FG vs. Team WhyNot. The center has been working back from an injury.
“I broke my ankle freshman summer after the second EYBL session in a little tournament,” Jefferson said. “And then I was out all the way from may, Mother’s Day, all the way until like after Christmas. So when I came back, I kind of wasn’t fully healthy. So just getting back into shape, finally trusting.”
Jefferson describes himself as a versatile player who can get it done on the block, but can also step out and hit outside shots. The center has shot 42.9% from the arc this summer for Team Griffin.
“I can do so many things,” Jefferson said. “So I feel like I kind of give you the best of both worlds.”
Both of Jefferson’s parents played sports at the University of Arkansas. His father, Mike Jefferson, was a left tackle for the football squad and his mother, Carrie Jefferson, was a center in basketball from 1993-97.
Jefferson is ranked the No. 132 player in the class of 2025 by 247Sports and the No. 12 player in the state of Texas. A weird talent of his is that he can sing. He’s been in choir since he was a kid and particularly likes to hit the high notes of artists like Michael Jackson.
“It’s really just my family that knows that because I kind of get shy about that stuff,” Jefferson said. But in seventh grade, if I wouldn’t of moved, I would have made the Chorale.”
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