God Knows Minnesota Basketball

News that freshman guard Alex Legion is transferring out of Kentucky is interesting on a number of fronts. First, it will be hard for some of the Tubby Smith obsessed UK fans to blame this on their former coach. Second, God was wrong apparently, but he's telling me that Minnesota is on the verge of becoming a basketball giant.

When things happen concerning Kentucky basketball, PJS always first turns to it's favorite Kentucky blog A Sea of Blue. Certainly we'll find here that there is no way Kentucky fans can blame Tubby Smith for Legion leaving. Legion, a Billy Gillespie recruit, leaving can't have anything to do with Tubby, right? Apparently not.

The message boards are nuts, and lots of people are taking the name of Tubby Smith in vain. Don't ask me how Smith managed to create this situation, but according to many, it is so. I always suspected that Smith was the real force behind global warming and high gas prices. Now, I'm sure of it, and even from Minnesota, his icy clutches have frozen our collective hearts yet again. How is this possible? The Wrath of Jobu, I tell you! I'll bet he's sticking a pin in a voodoo doll of Billy Gillispie even as I write this ...

Sigh.

Legion, you might remember if you follow basketball recruiting, originally committed to play at Michigan. Legion is a Michigan product, afterall, but was granted his release after Tommy Amaker went to coach at Harvard. It was around this time God entered the fray and swung Legion's recruitment in favor of Kentucky.

Legion's mother, you should know, is a prophet. Here is a rather lengthy snippet of her conversation with Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The Almighty steered [Alex Legion] to prestigious Detroit Country Day, a private high school that has produced such basketball stars as Chris Webber and Shane Battier. Then the Holy Spirit let it be known that he should transfer to prep school powerhouse Oak Hill Academy for his senior year. Divine intervention brought him to UK, a college he had not been considering.

"I had no clue Kentucky was a basketball school. No clue," Annette Legion said. "But God knew."

When asked about God's interest in her son, she quietly, almost as an aside, made a startling claim.

"Me being a prophet, he has truly ordered my son's steps," she said matter-of factly.

Prophet? Did you say prophet? Like Isaiah and Ezekiel of the Old Testament? "I'm a prophet," she said, "someone who can prophesize about your future and what's going on in your life."

Apparently God got this one wrong, eh Annette?

Many of the still fuzzy reports out of Kentucky indicate that Mrs. Legion was upset with the way Gillespie was treating the players. And there is even speculation that another Kentucky player could be on the way out. While I'll continue to take some sweet joy in watching Billy Gillespie's team implode, now is time for the typical sepculation of where Legion will transfer to. He could end up back at Michigan. I would imagine other schools that were recruiting him heavily--Florida, Kansas and others--will be knocking on Mrs. Legion's door. But some have suggested he could be interested in playing in the Big Ten. If that were the case, Alex could find a home in Minnesota.

Mrs. Legion probably is aware, being a prophet and all, that Tubby Smith is a Godly man. I don't even need to provide a link to discuss something else that is widely known: Many of Tubby Smith's players end up looking up to their ball coach. By the time his seniors graduate, Tubby is as much a father figure as he is a coach. That would be a stark contrast to the way Legion was coached at Kentucky, where reports are coming out that indicate Billy Gillespie is kind of a jerk.

Alex and Annette should also know that Tubby's recruiting class has two top-notch big men, in Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iversen. Tubby's 2008 class also includes two high-profile JUCO players in junior Devron Bostick and sophomore Paul Carter. And it includes the best point guard in Candada in Devoe Joseph. A shooting guard of Alex's skill could certainly have people, even God, talking about Minnesota basketball.

I'm apparently not the only one who thinks Legion could end up in Minnesota. And if that happens, I'll be sure to bring you all of the insane reaction in Kentucky. That would be fun, wouldn't it?