Jabari Parker poured his heart to Duke fans in an emotional goodbye to teammates and fellow students in the wake of recently making himself eligible for the upcoming NBA draft after just one season.
The 19-year-old Parker took to Instagram where he thanked the Blue Devils basketball program for their love and support.
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"Finally found the time to get to it so I'll start here," Parker wrote. "Last summer I spent countless nights walking across this floor, looking at the banners of the players/coaches responsible for this great program. Then I look off over into the stands, home to some of the best fans. Lastly, I walk over to our team's bench, dreaming of the moment when they call out 'a 6'8 freshman from Chicago, IL.' When that moment came, it blessed my life.
To live your dream, being apart of a family that stands up for each other, representing a program that's more than any single person. The DUKE basketball program takes a team to be successful on a daily basis. I knew from H.S. that I wanted to be apart of a program that was going to need every single person. Duke didn't need JP, JP needed Duke."
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Parker is widely considered the best of a loaded freshman-laden draft that also includes Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Aaron Gordon, Joel Embiid and Tyler Ennis. In becoming Duke's all-time top freshman scorer, Parker averaged 19.1 points and 8.7 rebounds in winning the Wayman Tisdale Award as the nation's best first year play.
Even though he is almost certain to be a lottery pick, Parker struggled mightily in making his decision, largely based on the Blue Devils' early ouster in the NCAA tournament and his subpar 4-of-14 shooting, 14 point game.
"I remember all the good moments I had playing on coach K court," Parker added. "As soon as I'm done with that, I walk out into the hallway looking at the players before me, hoping that I could be one of those guys too. To end, I want to thank everyone who embraced me into the Duke family. I will miss you Cameron indoor, Cameron Crazies, the team, the coaches, but most of all, those little people who contribute to Duke in the biggest ways."
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