ESPN

Senior guard Alvin Ellis, of Chicago's De La Salle High School, committed and signed his letter of intent to the Michigan State Spartans on Wednesday.

Ellis, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, was previously signed with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He averaged 20 points, six rebounds and four rebounds for De La Salle in the Chicago Catholic League this past season.

MeanStreets AAU coach Tai Streets, Ellis’ club coach, thought Ellis would excel at Michigan State under Spartans coach Tom Izzo.

“I love Izzo though I’m a Michigan alum,” said Streets, who played football at Michigan. “That’s my guy. I know I’m going to get into trouble for that, but it’s true. If it’s not Michigan, you can’t go wrong with Izzo.

“I think it’s a great fit for Alvin. First of all, he’s a hard worker. He’s in the gym every day. His shot has improved. His ball handling has improved. Everything has improved. He’s going to be great at Michigan State. I think it’s a steal.”

Izzo, who missed out on fellow Chicago recruit Jabari Parker earlier this year, also spoke highly of Ellis in a statement.

“Alvin will be a great addition to our backcourt,” Izzo said. “We like his offensive skill set, especially his shooting touch, hitting 40 percent from three each of the last two seasons. He has good length and versatility, with the ability to defend a couple different positions on the perimeter. Combine his great work ethic, his great family background and his commitment to academics, and I expect him to be the type of player that really develops during his time as a Spartan, enjoying the complete student-athlete experience.”

Ellis joins his former high school teammate Gavin Schilling in Michigan State’s 2013 recruiting class. Ellis and Schilling were teammates at De La Salle during their junior seasons. Schilling spent his senior season at Findlay Prep in Nevada.

Anthony Davis didn’t want to practice with former NFL wide receiver Tai Streets’ club basketball team, MeanStreets, when Davis showed up for the first time in the spring of 2010.

At that point, Davis was unknown by nearly everyone. He hadn’t played club basketball since he was in junior high, and his high school, Perspectives, wasn’t somewhere college coaches or even local Chicago media traveled to check out players.

Looking to give Davis exposure, he and his father, Anthony Sr., approached Streets for an opportunity to play on his Nike-sponsored team. Streets agreed and invited Davis to a practice.

“I remember I had on my sheet a 6-7 player from Perspectives,” Streets said. “He was another big body. The first time he came to practice he didn’t think he could play with those guys. His dad made him stay, and the rest is history.”

The rest is history.

MeanStreets gave Davis a chance to showcase his game in front of first national scouts and then college coaches. By the end of the summer, he was nearly everyone’s No. 1 player in the country and was headed to Kentucky. Now two years later, he’s a won national championship and is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on Thursday.

It’s all unbelievable to Streets.

“It’s amazing just how it happened so fast,” Streets said. “When I first saw him, no, I didn’t that was realistic. As it went on and it kept going and going, I was like this is going to be special. No. 1 pick would never have crossed your mind. He kept improving, and he kept showing.”

Streets still often texts with Davis. Streets said he’ll pass on any advice from his NFL career when he feels Davis needs it, but he doesn’t think he does right now.

“I think it helps that all the attention he got came so late,” Streets said. “That helps 100 percent. Kids nowadays, they’re going to be told they’re the greatest thing since they were in sixth or seventh grade. It helps he didn’t get that until his last year of school. Everything happened so fast. He’s had to work for everything.”