Jabari Parker to sit rest of July

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Chicago Simeon Career Academy forward Jabari Parker, the nation's No. 1-ranked senior, has a fracture in his right foot, his father said Thursday.

Parker injured his foot while playing for Team USA in the FIBA U17 World Championship tournament in Lithuania. He played sparingly throughout most of the tournament and sat out one game.

Parker had an MRI taken on the foot in Chicago on Wednesday.

"We're going to take some time and let it heal," Parker's father, Sonny Parker, said Thursday. "Things happen and they happen. He'll get healthy again and continue to play and perform the way he's been. He's getting a chance to rest. I don't know how he played with a fracture. I knew it had to be something the way he's been walking. He'll be fine."

Parker will sit out the July recruiting period. He was hoping to play with the Mac Irvin Fire at the Peach Jam, Nike's Elite Youth Basketball League finals, this week in North Augusta, S.C.

Sonny expects Jabari will return to the court long before his high school season, but he was unsure of a specific timeline. Sonny said the family also would be getting at least one more opinion on the injury.

Parker and Simeon will be shooting for their fourth consecutive Illinois state title.

Last week, Parker, a 6-foot-8 forward, released a list of 10 colleges he was considering to attend: BYU, DePaul, Duke, Florida, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and Stanford.

Parker's injury could allow him more time to focus on choosing a school. He previously said he'd like to commit and sign in November.

"We haven't had a chance to talk about recruiting," Sonny said. "I guess it's in the early stage of recruiting. He picked the 10 schools he liked. From here, he's going to narrow it down and set up visits. That should be coming hopefully soon."

As a junior, Parker was named the ESPNChicago.com Player of the Year, Illinois' Mr. Basketball and the national Gatorade Player of the Year. He averaged 19.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 3.3 blocks and 1.4 steals per contest in leading Simeon to its third consecutive state title.

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Scott Powers is a general reporter for ESPNChicago.com. He is an award-winning journalist and has been reporting on preps, colleges and pros for publications throughout the Midwest since 1997.