April 10, 2002

Champaign, Ill. - University of Illinois men's basketball coach Bill Self announced today that Chicago Dunbar All-Stater Aaron Spears signed a national letter of intent to play for the Fighting Illini.

Spears, a 6-foot-9-inch, 240-pound post player, is the fifth high school senior to sign a letter of intent with the Illini this year. He joins James Augustine (6-10, F., Lincoln-Way Central HS), Dee Brown (5-11, G, Proviso East HS), Deron Williams (6-4, G, The Colony, Texas) and Kyle Wilson (6-8, F, Dallas Jesuit) in the Illini recruiting class.

"Aaron is a player who has worked extremely hard both in the classroom and on the court," Self said. "He has gotten himself into excellent physical condition and has the frame that with strength training will be an even more physical force. Aaron can have an immediate impact on our program and continues to open the door to recruitment of Chicago-area players. He comes from an excellent program at Dunbar and has been well coached by Fate Mickel. At the conclusion of Aaron's official visit with us, and discussions with his mother, Bonnie Spears, and his grandmother, Dorothy Dawson, we all felt it was a natural fit for him at the University of Illinois."

Spears earned first-team All-State honors by the Chicago Sun-Times and Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette after averaging 27 points and 15 rebounds. He also earned Special Mention All-State by the Chicago Tribune and honorable-mention All-State by the Associated Press. He was rated a consensus Top 100 player by recruiting services.

"Going into the spring we were fourth-fifths complete with our recruiting," Self said. "Aaron was the missing piece to what we feel will be an outstanding class. Replacing five experienced seniors is never easy for five entering freshmen, but this collective group recruited by Norm Roberts and Billy Gillispie can have the same impact on our program as the five guys who just left."

Spears is scheduled to play Thursday in the Michael Jordan Capital Classic All-Star game with fellow Illini recruit Dee Brown. He is also scheduled to play in the Wendy's Classic as well as Chicago's City vs. Suburban game and the IBCA All-Star game.

Spears' father, Dan Davis, was an all-state player at Crane High School in 1965 who later went on to play at Northwestern from 1967-69, earning Academic All-Big Ten honors in 1968 and leading the Wildcats in free-throw shooting in 1969 (.882), which still stands as the third-best season in NU history. Davis later coached at Crane, which he guided to the 1972 state finals, and at Malcolm X Junior College.