ESPN

Ten years have passed since the Chicago area claimed the consensus No. 1 senior in the country.

Simeon’s Derrick Rose, Proviso East’s Shannon Brown and Homewood-Flossmoor’s Julian Wright all reached the top 10 in the last decade, but only Thornwood’s Eddy Curry earned the top spot.

Perspectives' 6-foot-10 senior forward and Kentucky recruit Anthony Davis is now on the verge of giving the area the No. 1 player again. Davis remained at No. 2 in the Class of 2011 when ESPN Recruiting released its new rankings on Tuesday, but he has a great shot at being No. 1 when the final rankings are updated in the spring.

Duke recruit Austin Rivers held down the No. 1 spot in the recent rankings, and fellow Kentucky recruit Michael Gilchrist was No. 3.

“This class is really pushing us to figure out how we define the best player in the class,” ESPN.com senior basketball recruiting analyst Dave Telep said. “We had three guys who are completely different, but we kind of came to the conclusion Anthony Davis is the best long-range prospect in the group. We just have 2-3 months to confirm our suspicions in some elite settings.”

Whether Davis end ups No. 1 will likely be decided how he performs during workouts leading up to the McDonald’s All-American game. It’s been difficult to assess Davis during the high school season. He doesn’t face much high-level competition with his high school team, and when Perspectives has played quality opponents, his teammates have been outmatched.

Telep and ESPN’s other analysts want to see how Davis performs while playing with and against the country’s other top players. During the spring and summer, Davis proved he belonged, and now they want to see him do it again.

“There’s any eyeball test for him,” Telep said. “When he’s on the floor with the elite players in the class, we still want to see him conducting himself like a dominant player, not deferring to the other guys, just continuing to see that evolution.”

Aside from Davis, eight other Illinois players were ranked in the new ESPNU 100. Davis was joined by Morgan Park’s Wayne Blackshear (No. 17), Whitney Young’s Sam Thompson (No. 45), Rock Island’s Chasson Randle (No. 60), East Aurora’s Ryan Boatright (No. 76), Orr’s Mycheal Henry (No. 77), De La Salle’s Mike Shaw (No. 79), St. Ignatius’ Nnanna Egwu (No. 84) and Mount Carmel’s Tracy Abrams (No. 87).

The state also has a shot at No. 1 in the Class of 2013. Simeon 6-foot-7 forward Jabari Parker is ranked No. 2 behind power forward Julius Randle, who is from Texas.

“There are a couple people on the staff who certainly feel the difference between the two is negligible, if there is any,” Telep said. “I really think Julius Randle is the most improved guy in that class in terms just of shear production, ability and potential. I think I see things in Jabari Parker that are exciting. His body continues to change in little ways. I think he’s the most cerebral forward in that class. He probably has the best basketball IQ in that class.

“There is a tighter gap now than when the season began. I think both guys are having very good years.”</p?

Whitney Young sophomore Tommy Hamilton Jr. also made the ESPN’s Terrific 25 at No. 15.

As loaded as Illinois’ Class of 2011 and 2013 are, its 2012 class didn’t anyone record in ESPN’s Super 60.

CHICAGO -- Anthony Davis was almost an unknown in the basketball world as recently as seven months ago.

The only reason Davis wasn’t completely off the map was because there was one college basketball coach who had recognized the 6-foot-10 forward as a talent. While Davis flew under the radar to everyone else because he attended a school of only a few hundred students and didn’t play club basketball, Cleveland State coach Gary Waters had caught of wind of Davis and went as far as offering a scholarship.

On Wednesday as 200-plus Perspectives’ students chanted Davis’ name while he signed his letter of intent to play at Kentucky, Davis reflected back on what had been an unforgettable seven months and what might have been if he hadn’t been discovered.

Most likely, Wednesday, the first day of college basketball's early signing period, would have been a monument day at Cleveland State if the events didn’t play out as they did.

“I was going to go there,” said Davis, who is ranked No. 2 in the Class of 2011 by ESPN. “Playing AAU really helped me a lot. If I hadn’t played AAU, I wouldn’t be here today. There’s a lot of people who doubted me, a lot of critics. I used that as motivation. [They said,] ‘I wasn’t going to go high D-I. I was going to go mid-major.’”

With what began with a decision to give club basketball a try as a way to gain more exposure, Davis and his versatile play became the talk of the hoops community nearly overnight. He skyrocketed up the national rankings, and nearly every coach in the country was falling over each other offering him a scholarship.

It was a series of events that rarely occurs in basketball recruiting in this day and age.

“I think it’s a great story,” ESPN Recruiting’s Reggie Rankin said. “It’s one of those you’re glad to see a happy ending to. Here’s a kid who is going from being a relatively unknown player in the spring time to going to play for the winningest program in the country. That’s pretty extreme.”

Davis’ mother Erainer Davis said the same.

“I never would have thought that things like this would have happened,” she said. “I knew he was good. I thought he was pretty good at basketball. We told him your turn will come around. Then all of sudden he went to play AAU with MeanStreets, and it blew up out of nowhere.”

Davis chose Kentucky over DePaul, Ohio State and Syracuse in August because he felt the Wildcats and their coach John Calipari gave him the best opportunity to win a national championship and play in the NBA.

Kentucky’s Class of 2011 is ranked No. 1 by ESPN -- the Wildcats signed four top 25 players on Wednesday. Along with Davis, the Wildcats brought in Michael Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Kyle Wiltjer.

“We all think we’re going to win a national championship, and I think that’s going to happen as long as the four of us are there,” Davis said. “That’s one of our biggest goals, and something we need to accomplish. If our team this year wins, that’ll be banner No. 8, and we’re going to try and get No. 9. If they don’t win, I guess we’re going to get banner No. 8.

“Whatever Kentucky needs me to do and coach Calipari needs me to do to win a national championship, I’m going to do.”

Davis’ recruitment to Kentucky did involve some controversy. In August, the Chicago Sun-Times reported someone close to the Kentucky program had agreed to pay $200,000 to secure Davis’ commitment, and that Davis' father, Anthony Davis Sr., had asked three other schools for $125,000-$150,000.

Kentucky and the Davis family have denied the allegations all along and continued to do so on Wednesday.

“I have no idea [why they wrote that,]” Davis Sr. said. “Maybe there were schools jealous of coach Calipari and Anthony picking Kentucky. That’s my assumption. I’m not sure. I truly believe one of the other schools he didn’t pick was upset.

“It wasn’t difficult. We knew what they wrote wasn’t true. Anthony was a little upset because he’s been getting all the good, and he finally got a little bit of the bad. I had a talk with him and explained to him, ‘That you know, you’re going to get a lot of good, you’re going to get a lot of bad, but it’s how you take it and run with it.’ So when the story came out, he still chose Kentucky. We’re happy as a family.”

Davis Sr. said they do still plan on suing the Sun-Times, and his attorney was still working through the situation.