ESPN

Simeon’s Jabari Parker, the nation’s No. 1 junior, said Tuesday he was sad to see Bruce Weber fired at Illinois, but he would still consider the Illini.

“I was very disappointed,” Parker said after Simeon advanced to the state semifinals Tuesday. “That was a person who first recruited me growing up. I feel like if the [new] coach there tried to recruit me they wouldn’t have a better relationship than [Weber] had. That really plays a key.”

Despite his relationship with Weber, Parker said he would still consider Illinois with a new coach because it’s an in-state school.

“They’ll still be in the mix because what we haven’t been looking at is making our own state good,” Parker said. “A lot of players they leave to go to these Kentucky’s and Duke’s, but they don’t see the state and representing the area they’re from.”

DePaul, Illinois and Northwestern are all recruiting Parker. DePaul coach Oliver Purnell and Illinois interim head coach Jerrance Howard were in attendance at Chicago State on Tuesday. Northwestern played in the NIT on Tuesday.

Parker said he would like to stay in state, but he couldn’t guarantee that would happen.

“That’s important, but at the end of the day, I got to see where I’m going to be a good player at and what system holds me the best.”

Parker hasn’t concentrated on recruiting during the high school season as Simeon attempts to win its third consecutive state title, but he will begin to do so after the season is completed.

“This summer I’m going to narrow my choices down and really focus on the schools I’m going to visit,” Parker said.

Former Illinois coach Ron Zook seemed to be a magnet for top-end recruits early in his seven-year tenure with the Illini.

He not only kept the state’s top talent at home, but he was also able to reach out and secure some of the top players from around the nation.

His 2006 recruiting class featured three ESPNU 150 players -- tight end Jeff Cumberland, who was from Ohio, and quarterback Juice Williams and wide receiver Chris James, who were both from Chicago. A year later, he had three more ESPNU 150 players in linebacker Martez Wilson from Chicago, wide receiver Arrelious Benn from Washington D.C. and D’Angelo McCray from Florida. In both years, he was also retaining most of the state’s premier recruits.

In 2008, that trend began to change. While Zook’s classes didn’t possess as much talent as they did early on, he still was bringing in respectable classes. The difference was those future classes began to include less of the in-state stars and more of the out-of-state ones.

In 2008, nine of the state’s top 10-rated players, including both ESPNU 150 recruits, committed elsewhere. In 2009, Illinois missed on eight of the top 10 players, including three of the four ESPNU 150 recruits. In 2010 and 2011, Illinois missed on all four ESPNU 150 recruits and had just one commitment in each class’s top 10.

In 2012, Illinois doesn’t have a commitment from any of the state’s top-10 players and just one in the top 20. There are nine players in the top 20 who are committed to other Big Ten programs.

“He wasn’t getting the traditional Midwest big guys,” ESPN Midwest recruiting analyst Jared Shanker said of Zook. “He relied too heavily to his ties to the Southeast area to when he was recruiting Florida. He didn’t do enough to sell Illinois’ in-state guys.”

Restoring that in-state pipeline will have to be a priority for whomever is hired to be Zook’s replacement. The state may not produce the amount of talent that some places do, but Illinois has its share of quality players, and right now they’re winning at programs elsewhere in the country.

“He has to take the state back,” Shanker said.

Chicago area’s high school football coaches agreed. They’d like to see more of their players end up at Illinois rather than out of state.

“I’m not convinced Illinois is winning the state of Illinois in terms of getting their top recruits there,” said Bolingbrook coach John Ivlow, whose team won the Class 8A state championship this season. “All these programs, Georgia’s players are from Georgia, Florida kids are from Florida, Illinois kids are from all over the place. You got to get those boys to stay home.”

Bolingbrook’s top player, linebacker Antonio Morrison, was recruited by Illinois, but he opted for Florida for its warm weather and football tradition.

“The tradition was important no doubt about it,” Ivlow said. “You got to make bowl games. If you can make bowl games every year, people take notice. Illinois hasn’t been able to do that. They’re inconsistent. They’re up, they’re down, they’re down, they’re up.”

Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet also felt Illinois’ lack of success on the field has led to its lack of success off it. Since 2009, three of the state’s biggest recruits came from Hetlet’s program, and they also decided to commit out of state. Class of 2009 recruit Chris Watt ended up at Notre Dame, 2011 recruit Jordan Walsh chose Iowa, and 2012 recruit Tommy Schutt is committed to Penn State.

“I think winning begets winning,” Hetlet said. “They have to show they’re going to turn the program around and stay consistent to keep those guys in state.”

Hetlet and Simeon coach Dante Culbreath also thought the Illini’s coaching shake-ups in recent years affected recruiting. Hetlet felt Illinois missed the recruiting presence of Dan Disch, who is now at Southern Miss, and Culbreath believed the same about Reggie Mitchell, who is now at Kansas, and Mike Locksley, who was fired at New Mexico this season.

Zook was able to recruit former Simeon stars Wilson and Jack Ramsey to Illinois, but failed recently with the Wolverines’ marquee players. Class of 2011 offensive lineman Chris Bryant committed to Michigan last year. Class of 2012 quarterback Robert Gregory is committed to Arkansas, and ESPNU 150 offensive lineman Jordan Diamond is looking at other programs.

“I thought Coach Zook started off good, but in his defense he lost his recruiters in Locksley and Reggie Mitchell,” Culbreath said. “He brought in guys who didn’t know the city and the Public League or the surrounding cities. Whoever comes in, he has to get guys who know how to keep the city boys and Illinois boys in Illinois.

“That’s the reality of it. People want to say this and that. If you can’t get the kids out of your own home, most likely you won’t be as successful as you can be.”

Plano junior defensive back Joseph Jones has committed to Northwestern.

Jones, who is 6-1 and 200 pounds, sat out the majority of his junior season after breaking his foot in Plano’s third game. He had five tackles, one interception and one pass break-up on the season. He also rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries and caught two passes for 23 yards.

“This is our first Division I athlete since 1971,” Plano athletic director Jim Schmidt said. “We always knew he had the ability. He’s just a gifted athlete. He’s a kid that runs a 4.4 [second] 40 [yard dash], and he’s 6-1 and he can jump.”

Jones is Northwestern’s fourth Class of 2012 recruit and joins Joliet Catholic running back Malin Jones as the Wildcats’ second in-state recruit.

DePaul assistant coach Billy Garrett can relax now.

His son Billy Garrett Jr., a Morgan Park sophomore guard, relieved his father’s worries and committed to DePaul on Tuesday night.
Garrett Jr. chose the Blue Demons over interest from Florida State, Kansas, Pittsburgh, Stanford and UNLV.

“It probably wouldn’t have looked too good if I had gone off somewhere else,” Garrett Jr. said. “It probably takes a lot of pressure off him. He was happy when I told him. He was excited.”

Garrett Jr., a 6-foot-4 guard, is considered one of the state’s top Class of 2013 prospects. He averaged 15 points a game for Morgan Park as a sophomore.

When Garrett Jr. arrives to DePaul, it’ll be the first time his dad actually coaches him. Garrett has been a college assistant since 2000. He has been with DePaul for the past two seasons.

“It means a lot to be with my dad,” said Garrett Jr., who has a 4.7 GPA on a 4.0 scale. “Not a lot of people get that chance. It’s great to play for him and coach [Oliver] Purnell.

“But beside my dad, the other main reason to play for DePaul was being in the Big East. I want to play in the best conference in the country.”

Garrett Jr.’s mission now is to recruit his friends to DePaul. He’ll be looking to sway Simeon’s Jabari Parker, Whitney Young’s Tommy Hamilton Jr., Morgan Park’s Markee Williams, Simeon’s Steve Taylor, Leo’s Russell Woods and others to Lincoln Park.

“All of the scholarships we have, I’ll be trying to fill them,” Garrett Jr. said. “I think we can potentially win the whole thing with players out of the city. I’m definitely trying to get them to come with me.”

Garrett Jr. is DePaul’s first Class of 2013 recruit.

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.

Benet senior offensive lineman Pat Flavin committed to Illinois on Wednesday, his high school coach Pat New confirmed.

Flavin, who is 6-7 and 250 pounds, also considered Boston College, Purdue and UCLA.

“I think he’s going to be a great college player,” New said. “He’s going to need to spend a couple years in the weight room because and add 35 pounds, but once he does, he has great feet and a great work ethic. I know he’s going to be a top-notch college player.”

The Illini now have 22 Class of 2011 commitments, including 10 from Illinois.

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.