God changed His mind...again.

Alex Legion's mother talks to God. She is a prophetess. She moved to Lexington to be with Alex at UK and to speak the Word to the 25 members of the parish she joined. God wanted all of this. Now God changed his mind. Legion has asked for, and will be granted a transfer from Kentucky, after 7 games. Reports are that he doesn't like Gillespie. My guess is that he ends up in Minnesota with Tubby Smith. Would Beilein entertain the idea of him recommiting to Michigan? After decommiting already twice? I guess we just have to wait for God to have time to ponder this decision.

Update: Legion's high school coach says he is interested in returning to Michigan. And this from his Oak Hill coach:

Steve Smith, who coached Legion for one season at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., told The Detroit News on Thursday that Legion discussed with him earlier this week the possibility of donning the maize and blue.

"Alex asked me if I thought he would fit their style of play," said Smith, who was also asked by Legion about Notre Dame. "I guess, as a coach, he figured I would know. I don't watch those teams that much, so I can't say, 'Hey, you're a perfect fit,' or, 'You're not a perfect fit.'

We could use some more talent, but geeissh. I don't think I want him.

You can have your cake Kentucky

Alex Legion, who will be nominated as a contestant for an award to be announced here soon, has apparently committed to Kentucky. Even mom sounds good about this choice. How much of this saga is attributable to the oozing-dripping-slimy green AAU stuff hasn't been revealed yet. But, Annette Williams (Legion's Mom) has certainly forshadowed future events:

Williams also cited Kentucky senior guard Joe Crawford as a significant reason for the Kentucky decision. Crawford and Legion played for the Family AAU team in Detroit, and Williams said it will help Legion to have an older player he knows on the team.

And the best quote yet:

When we went there, they gave us the red-carpet treatment. It was the icing on the cake when they had the mayor and the school president there . . . "He felt as if Kentucky was a little more serious," Williams said.

We have seen our share of the cake in Ann Arbor and thanks, but no thanks, we're not that serious.

More Praise for Beilein

With the exception of Jay Bilas, and Alex Legion, everyone else is praising the move by Michigan to hire Beilein. An interesting selection of comments about the coach:

"I think Tommy Amaker inherited one of the most difficult programs certainly that we've had at Michigan. I think he conducted himself well. He's a first class individual, and a guy that I think will have outstanding success before he's done. I think he brought the program a long long way. I think he brought kids in here that represented the university well. So I think John is inheriting a program that is not far away. If you look at some of the things that Tommy has done, and the guys that are here, some of the young kids that are returning, and hopefully be able to keep the three commitments that Tommy had – I think that he's walking into a program that is much much stronger than it was when Tommy came in." -- Lloyd Carr

I had an opportunity to talk with John last Friday and I've watched his teams over the course of the last two or three years, and I think he brings an outstanding enthusiasm to the game. And certainly what he's been able to do in his career, he's got a great background, and from every source, he's a great teacher of the game. I think he's going to do a great job here." -- Lloyd Carr

Sports Illustrated named Beilein as the 11th, 12th or 13th top NCAA men's basketball coach in Stewart Mandel's ranking of the top 10 college coaches. The list of the top ten and "just missed" includes Izzo, Matta, Beilein and Bo Ryan -- that's 4 of the top 13 coaches from the Big 10. The next closest number of coaches for any one conference is two.

One of the paid recruitniks really likes Beilein a lot. The guy interviewed covers West Virginia recruiting. By these comments, you'd think he might be related to Beilein:

He's the best coach in America. His legacy is this: For 25 years there's been no basketball [in West Virginia], except for one Sweet 16. For 20-25 years you lost a generation of fans. He did a good job with attendance. He built up the schedule, played UCLA and Oklahoma. He's had more trouble versus teams who've played his style . . . He's probably the best shooting coach in America. He rebuilt the fan base and the interest level. People loved his team. There never was a hint of impropriety. His weakness is that he's too hard on himself. . . . The media say he's too tight. He's completely honest and sometimes his team is uptight . . . .He's the same type of coach as Wisconsin's coach (Bo Ryan) . . . He'll be very much like Tom Izzo, John Thompson III and Bo Ryan.

And, he says Beilein will recruit well:

He saw an opportunity at Michigan. A national school filled with doctors and lawyers. He can consistently get great players at every position. There's a lot of concern about him recruiting Flint and Detroit. He'll go to Catholic schools in Detroit and Chicago and be able to recruit regionally. He's gotten kids from the Northeast and New Jersey and Washington D.C. He was beating out Maryland and Georgetown. He had a fairly good base in Florida. At West Virginia he didn't touch junior colleges. He didn't play the AAU game."

The nets and papers are full of comments that Beilein runs a very clean and very ethical program (he does sit on an NCAA ethics board). It's not too surprising, then, that he didnt' play the "AAU game" at West Virginia. The "AAU game" is pretty slimy. It's also pretty significant. It may even be more significant to Alex Legion, whose guardian was also his AAU coach, Tim Green. I'll have some more comments later about AAU and recruiting in general, but in the meantime check out this must read from mogoblog regarding Legion from last year.

No tune for now

I was feeling optomistic when I promised a tune if we kept Manny, Kelvin and Legion. I haven't given up hope yet. I'm not feeling quite as confident now after Legion has been formally released from his LOI. Alex, it's really a good tune, you may want to hear it.

Today is a Good Day

Manny Harris is staying. Kelvin Grady is staying, according to the Detroit News, and other outlets, including the Wolverine pay content. Markowski of the DetNews says:

And that's not all. According to Harris, Kelvin Grady of East Grand Rapids is staying with U-M and Alex Legion of Oak Hill (Va.) Academy could make his decision as soon as this weekend.

This is fabulous. Legion should follow. Especially given his mother's quote in the previous link and this dated bit:

"Al talked with him (Beilein) for an hour on Wednesday," Williams said. " When you have a ballplayer like Al, it's not about him. What's important are the players you have around him."

Word to Al: your teammates haven't changed since you committed. If Legion stays too, I'll have a theme tune for the freshman class with an acknowledgment to Tommy's fine work to get them signed in the first place. Nice work Tommy, Coach Beilein and Coach Jackson. Avoid this obnoxious link for Coach Jackson, unless you've read my former posts.

Coach Jackson (Update)

Not that anyone didn't already know, but Jackson's importance to Legion and Harris are verified here. Legion's mother says:

Legion’s mother, Annette Williams, said today that Beilein told her in their meeting last week that Jackson was returning, and she said that was a major factor for her son, who is still considering whether to attend U-M.

A combination of a gameplan that fits Legion perfectly, and an assistant he likes who talks glowingly about Beilein gives us, in my estimation, a great shot to get Legion at lease. Let's not lose track of the statements that Manny wants to be near home.