Parade All-American Alex Legion signed scholarship papers with Kentucky this week, becoming head coach Billy Gillispie?s first Wildcat signee.
Legion, a native of Detroit, Michigan, is attending Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. Rated the No. 12 shooting guard by Rivals.com and No. 27 prospect overall in the Class of 2007 by PrepStars.com, Legion originally signed with Michigan in the fall before receiving his release when the Wolverines fired head coach Tommy Amaker.
?I?m excited Alex is joining us at Kentucky,? Gillispie said. ?He?s a guy I?m looking forward to having the opportunity to coach. In addition to being an outstanding young man, he?s a really good shooter and scorer, and because of those attributes he fits in well with our returning players.
?One of the best things that happened during the process of recruiting Alex was that our current players did a great job of encouraging him to come to UK. They are working as hard as the coaching staff is at trying to improve our roster. All of the guys displayed the team-first attitude that is an important part of any successful program.?
The athletic Legion is known as an accurate shooter. As a senior at Oak Hill, he averaged 19.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 steals while shooting 53 percent from the field, 42 percent from 3-point range and 85 percent from the free throw line. He also made his last 40 free throw attempts while helping lead Oak Hill to a 40-1 record and the No. 1 spot in the final USA TODAY Super 25 boys? basketball rankings.
Prior to his senior season at Oak Hill, Legion attended Detroit Country Day where he led the Yellowjackets to a 55-13 record. He is a two-time Associated Press, Detroit News and Detroit Free Press Class B All-State first team selection. Country Day is also the same high school that current Wildcat Mark Coury attended as well as former All-Americans Chris Webber and Shane Battier.
Legion joins former Oak Hill alums Jules Camara, Rashaad Carruth, Cliff Hawkins, Ron Mercer, and Rajon Rondo who have all dotted the UK rosters over the years.
UK signed Jacksonville, Fla., forward A.J. Stewart and Alexandria, Va., center Mike Williams in the fall. Williams is originally from England.
?Our staff continues to work feverishly on finishing up this signing class and getting ready for next season and beyond,? Gillispie said.
