Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie left a message on the cell phone of Oak Hill Academy Coach Steve Smith this week. The message made Smith believe that freshman Alex Legion will transfer from UK.
In his message, Gillispie noted how it appeared Legion would transfer, and the UK coach wanted to thank Smith for his help in the recruiting process. Legion played for Oak Hill last season.
“I took it from that that (Legion) was definitely leaving,” Smith said on Wednesday.
Also this week, Legion’s godfather and AAU coach, Tim Green, said the player had decided to leave UK.
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.
you mispelled message and perhaps the coach is just following through on a courtesy. considering all the back and forth on this kid. HE IS A KID. kids leave schools regularly/ kids change their minds/ kids don’t know what they want lots and lots of times.
Please leave Alex, call U of M and beg them to take you back. You need counseling and an ego check. No commitment doesn’t sell well…I hope you don’t have a serious injury because your ego would be lost. By the way, Country Day won the state championship without you!! Get a grip and learn to play some D or the NBA will eat you for breakfast. Good job Coach G for letting him go.
UK basketball is much bigger than Alex Legion and will survive. Please Coach G run him off and say good ridance. We have a season to think about and try to get back on track. Legion might have helped in coming years, but I have not seen much evidence of it coming this year so far. Let the kids go and keep the men like Patterson and move on.
Alex Legion is a great basketball player who will be exciting to watch wherever he plays. BUTTTT !!!! If he’s not happy at UK now what is the cause for this unhappiness? Is he getting advice from family members and friends like another player did several years ago. This is a young man who has already quit the UM and then ask the University of Kentucky for a release twice. Alex, I’m sorry to say this because I looked forward to watching you play for UK. Buttttt!!!!! I don’t want to see these kinds of individual player distractions that plagued the Tubby Smith era. BILLY GILLISPIE does not need these kinds of distractions in his first year of trying to jell players with high egos to play as a team. Soooo!!! If you’re unhappy at UK please go.
This is crazy…Alex is an unbelievable player. Besides Patterson, he was the next best player on the team. Period. For the way that UK and UK Fans treated Tubby…what goes around…comes around. The drama has just begun.