Texas A&M Commit Kyrion Parker: Proximity A Major Factor For Chase Abbington

Back during the IFAF U-19 World Championship in Austin during the early part of July, recent (at the time) Texas A&M pledge Tavares Garner indicated to SB Nation Recruiting that he and fellow Aggie pledge Reggie Chevis were working on Missouri commit Chase Abbington, who was also on the team.

Garner and Chevis weren’t the only ones -- another future Aggie and a current teammate of Garner, Alvin (TX) Manvel wide receiver Kyrion Parker, a one-time LSU commitment, was also hard at work trying to convince Abbington to switch his allegiance and wear maroon and white in college.

Days later, Abbington received an offer from coach Sumlin and the Aggies during his time in Austin, but declined to comment on it at the time in a conversation with Gigem247 ($):

I don’t want to start anything, so I’m not going to comment on the Texas A&M offer or any other offer. I’m just not trying to think about that right now. The schools are going to keep coming, and at some point I’ll figure it all out.

A bit of a coy response, to be sure, but part of the impetus behind all of this actually being a story is that Parker and Abbington, who is from Missouri, have been best friends for some time, since Pee Wee football, actually, when Parker lived in the Show-Me State.

Asked on Friday about the status of his friend’s recruitment, Parker smiled and said that he’s still working on Abbington, but revealed a crucial element about how things will play out for his friend -- he wants to stay close to home so his mother can watch him play in football in college.

The desire to stay in state may be the final deciding factor for Abbington, and it doesn’t bode well for the Aggies in their efforts to flip his commitment.