It’s a new day for mission-bound LDS athletes

College athletics » New age minimums will result in more flexibility, less disruption, coaches and athletes say.

< Previous Page

BYU quarterback Riley Nelson, who played a season at Utah State before a church mission to Spain, said he would have gone first, and several other BYU football players, including cornerback Preston Hadley, echoed Nelson’s sentiments Monday.

"I turned 18 a week after I graduated [from high school]," Nelson said. "I think that would have been nice timing [to go]. Then you get back as a 20-year-old kid, and I probably would have redshirted, which would have been nice. … I don’t know what impact that will have, but I think it is good — getting them out at 18 and getting them back at 20, and then having five [years] to play four."

And don’t forget about the impact the change potentially could have on the top high school basketball player in the country, Jabari Parker, who happens to be LDS and has mentioned the possibility of serving a mission.

He turns 18 next March, and now could go on a mission before enrolling at one of his listed five favorites: BYU, Florida, Duke, Michigan State or Stanford.

Before the change, he would have had to play a year first.

"When he’s 18 and if he did want to go on a mission, he can now," Parker’s father, Sonny Parker, told Scott Powers of ESPNChicago.com. "He has to decide whether or not [he will]. He hasn’t decided one way or another."

Tribune reporters Kurt Kragthorpe, Lya Wodraska and Tony Jones contributed to this report.

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

About Reader Comments

---

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account.
See more about comments here.