Class of 2007 Recruit Alex Legion Re-commits to Michigan

By Sean · Tuesday, July 18, 2006 · 7:50 PM |  Share | Leave a Comment 

What a week it has been for Tommy Amaker and the Michigan basketball team. After much disappointment in the recruiting world, Michigan finally received its first break about a week ago when the highly-regarded Manny Harris verbally committed. Harris is rated as the 45th best recruit in the nation by Rivals, and is quickly becoming better and better. By the fall, he could be even higher on the list.

If you think back to April, it was a pretty bad time for Michigan basketball. A first round loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament, and also a burst-bubble after not receiving an invitation to the NCAA tournament was just the beginning. Alex Legion, the premier recruit of Tommy Amaker’s 2007 class had just exited that role, making for a very rough stretch for Michigan fans.

Alex Legion, a prized recruit, and the top high school junior in the state of Michigan, is changing his mind on a few things. First off, after being upset about things at Detroit Country Day, he will transfer to Oak Hill (Virginia) Academy. Oak Hill is known for producing great talent in the college ranks, and the pros. The most recent NBA success from Oak Hill is Carmelo Anthony, the star player of the Denver Nuggets.

Legion also decommits from Michigan and opens back up his recruitment. That doesn’t necessarily mean Michigan’s out of it completely, but it doesn’t bode well for the maize and blue. Legion was the highest-ranked recruit that Amaker had ever landed during his time at Michigan, ranked in the top 15 of the country.

Most of the analysts felt that Legion wouldn’t be coming back to Michigan, and some even felt he would commit to UCLA very soon. Well, they felt wrong. Today, in a very surprising move, Alex Legion decided to re-committ to Michigan. He now returns to a recruiting class that has been spruced up a bit since he departed. As stated before, Manny Harris was added to the class of ’07 last week, and that may have actually helped in Legion’s decision.

“After looking around and talking to a bunch of other college coaches, I realized I have the best relationship with Coach Amaker,” he noted.Legion contacted the Michigan head coach late Tuesday afternoon to inform him of the good news, reaffirming that he will indeed be a Wolverine.”He was real excited to have me,” said Legion. “He’s trying to get Michigan Basketball back to where it’s supposed to
be.”

Legion also made it apparent that the recent pledge of Detroit (Mich.) Redford guard Corperryale Harris played a factor in his decision.

This is a very big break for Tommy Amaker. Many, including myself, were starting to question whether or not Amaker could get it done when it came to landing big-name recruits. This especially came after Patrick Beverly and Scottie Reynolds passed on Michigan. The fact that Legion decommitted made it worse since it wasn’t anything new. He was the third highly-ranked recruit to back out during the Amaker era.

I just hope that Legion doesn’t change his mind again before the early signing period (December 20, 2006-January 15, 2007). That’s one of the innovations in college basketball that I would like to see brought over to college football. That way, a player like Legion can sign then before another change comes along. Also, players that committ the summer before the season, such as Ryan Mallett, could sign and just get it over with without waiting until February.

One last note… Flint Powers guard Laval Lucas-Perry will make his decision of where he will be committing tomorrow during a press conference at 12:00 p.m. ET. Michigan is apart of a vast amount of choices for Lucas-Perry, and after the return of Alex Legion, it’s doubtful that there will be room for another guard.