The college basketball career of Illini guard Alex Legion has involved a lot more paperwork than points scored so far. Back in 2006 Legion was one of the top recruits in the country, with Bruce Weber and the Illini being one of many programs trying to bring him to town. In the end, Legion chose to stay in his home state -- Legion is from Detroit -- and attend Michigan. That commitment didn't last too long, as shortly after opting for Big Blue, Alex changed his mind and chose to go to Kentucky instead. Well, after spending one semester in Lexington, Alex decided that Kentucky wasn't the place for him either and announced he was going to transfer.
This spurred another recruiting war to land the talented guard, and after being courted heavily by both the Illini and Notre Dame, Alex chose Bruce Weber and the Illini. Legion is easily the most highly touted player that Weber has ever brought to Champaign, and there's no doubt Weber is happy to have him in town even if it took two years longer than he anticipated.
"This will add a new dimension to our team," Weber said. "We have pretty good chemistry, and it will be a challenge to our team and the staff to allow him to blend in."
Legion hasn't had much experience on a college basketball court, with only six games under his belt. In those six games he averaged 17.5 minutes while scoring 6.7 points a game and pulling down 1.8 rebounds. Still, it's not like the Illini will need him to come right off the bench and start scoring 20 points a game. The team is pretty solid in the backcourt already with Trent Meachem, Chester Frazier, and Demetri McCamey, but adding Legion to the mix can't hurt.
With Big Ten conference play starting in January, things are going to get a lot tougher for the Illini now that the cupcakes are removed from the schedule -- okay Northwestern is still on the schedule so maybe not all the cupcakes are gone -- and with Legion coming off the bench he could be a large boost to the Illini's second unit on the offensive end.
If Alex works his way into the mix quickly and blossoms into the top-notch talent scouts saw he has the potential to be in high school, it would only be that much sweeter for the Illini and could make them a real threat within the conference.
