Two transfers decide on schools

Drew Gordon left the UCLA program early in December, despite speaking highly of Ben Howland and his UCLA teammates. Based on comments Gordon made after UCLA's loss to Villanova is last season's NCAA tournament, it isn't hard to infer that Gordon left because he was unhappy playing Howland's grind-it-out style.

It seems Gordon has landed on his feet.

Gordon visited Notre Dame, San Diego State, and UNLV, but eventually chose New Mexico yesterday after attending the Lobo's victory over Northern Arizona. Steve Alford will lose Roman Martinez to graduation, but with everyone else on the roster returning, and assuming Darington Hobson doesn't go pro, New Mexico is going to have a very good front line next season.

New Mexico has had success with high profile transfers before. JR Giddens left Kansas and went to Albequerque, where he led the Lobos to the brink of the tournament in 2008 and was eventually picked in the first round of that year's NBA Draft.


New Mexico isn't the only school that landed a high-profile transfer.

Today, Alex Legion, the former Illinois and Kentucky guard, decided that he would finish his collegiate career at Florida International under Isiah Thomas. Legion left Kentucky under Billy Gillispie, and played parts of two seasons with the Illini. But with his minutes dwindling this season as Bruce Weber added talented freshman DJ Richardson and Brandon Paul, Legion decided to leave the Illini for greener pastures.

If Legion wants to play next season, he will be eligible at the end of the first semester, which means that Thomas will be adding Legion and top 50 recruit Dominique Ferguson. Not a bad haul for the Panthers.