While our professional basketball team seems to be in disarray, this was a nice weekend for the University of Illinois basketball team.
The Illini received word that freshman shooting guard Alex Legion will join the team after transferring from Kentucky. Legion was ranked the 44th best player in the country, and tenth best shooting guard, by to Rivals.com coming out of high school in Virginia last year. Legion reportedly clashed with first year Kentucky coach Billy Gillespie and averaged just over 17 minutes per game in the six games he played as a Wildcat.
It’s too bad Legion can’t step in this season, because with Jamar Smith redshirting, the Illini are in desperate need of backcourt help. Chester Frazier has been overmatched throughout the season, and he’s getting little help from Trent Meachum or freshman Demetri McCamey. While McCamey seems to have a bright future, he has struggled at times this season.
An at-large NCAA Tournament bid will be difficult after a tough home loss loss to Miami-Ohio, but Illinois rebounded to defeat Missouri in the Battle for Braggin’ Rights for the eighth consecutive time. The end of the game wasn’t pretty, with Frazier missing two free throws with nine seconds left, only to see Missouri guard Keon Lawrence dribble the ball off his foot as time expired. Still, it was a win Illinois needed to have, and they got it.
-Ricky
