Another one who left town: Jordair Jett

When he was a high schooler at St. Agnes and St. Bernard's, Jordair Jett had the best name in Minnesota basketball, in addition to having some pretty good game -- and, yes, he wore No. 23 in high school.

After a prep school year, Jett ended up at Saint. Louis University, one of those mid-majors that has done a good job of plucking Minnesota talent that hasn't been deemed good enough for the Big Ten or the other power conferences in college basketball.

On Wednesday, Jett came off the Billikens' bench to score 14 points in their 90-73 victory at Fiordham, which kept them in a first-place tie with Butler and Virginia Commonwealth. St. Louis gathered some national steam last week when it upset Butler by 17 points, with Jett coming off the bench to lead the team with 19.

After the Butler victory, Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote: "They attacked the Bulldogs at (Jordair) Jett speed, working their sellout crowd into a frenzy. They mixed in enough big shots — a trio of 3-pointers by Mike McCall Jr., timely post points from Dwayne Evans and Rob Loe — to maintain their momentum."

After beating Fordham, Gordon praised one of Jett's teammates with this opening: "The Billikens have come to expect great games off the bench from Jordair Jett, who delivered a stellar line (14 points, five rebounds, four assists). ..."

Upload isn't arguing that the Gophers should have been on Minnesota's radar. He has veered between starting and coming off the bench during his 2 1/2 seasons at St. Louis. Jett is averaging 9.5 points and 3.7 assists through 22 games this season, which include nine starts.

But it lends more credence to the notion that Minnesota is fertile territory for mid-major recruiters, and that there's D-I life for the state's top players beyond the Big Ten.