Prior to this season, there were only nine athletes in St. Paul boys basketball history that had sketched their names in stone for future Falcons to remember. However, on Jan. 20 Jamie Leggett added to that list as he became the 10th player in school history to score 1,000 points.
Leggett’s road to 1,000 has been different from many others on the list. As a freshman, Leggett only scored 26 points total and then as a sophomore dealt with a shortened COVID season. As a junior, Leggett earned All-State and All-NVL honors and he hasn’t slowed down a bit this season.
Currently, Leggett averages 24.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.8 steals per game.
However, while the achievement of scoring 1,000 points has put him in rare company at St. Paul, the achievement doesn’t rank very high on his list. He said for him it’s all about playing the game the right way and winning with his teammates.
“It feels great to accomplish this,” Leggett said. “Obviously, my name will be up there with a lot of legends at St. Paul, but if I’m being totally and completely honest, it’s not really high up there because my one concern that I’ve always had is winning. I know that if I score and play the right way then we’ll win and that’s really my goal.”
Leggett said it reassuring to be mentioned in the list of legends because it means that he just played the game the right way. He said he never set out to score 1,000 points.
Leggett said his mindset comes from his parents, who were both collegiate basketball players and coaches. His father is currently an assistant coach at St. Paul.
“The focus has always been about playing the right way and not worrying about the individual stats,” he said.
Leggett said currently his focus is to make a late season run to push themselves into the playoffs but he said when he looks at his time at St. Paul it has been nothing short of amazing. He said it’s a family oriented environment.
“It’s been fantastic and I love it,” Leggett said. “Coach Phelps has done the most for me. I love that guy. I respect him like crazy and I couldn’t have done it without him or my teammates.”
The appreciation between Leggett and Phelps is a two-way street. Phelps has given Leggett the highest praise by saying that Leggett is not only “special,” but a once in a lifetime player.
“Players like Jamie don’t come around often. He’s irreplaceable,” Phelps said. “He is the type of kid whose accolades pale in comparison to the quality of kid that he is and the quality of character that he has.”
Phelps said Leggett emulates who St. Paul basketball is. He said he‘s a no ego, no agenda type of kid who plays through injury. He said Leggett is a quiet leader that leads by example and is verbal when needed. Has a tremendous work ethic and is loved by his teammates.
Leggett has been a two-time team selected captain over the last two season.
“He’s an absolute joy to be in the gym with and just to observe as a coach and observe the way he practices,” he said.
Phelps said as the regular season winds down he told some of the younger players that with the time the team has left together, they owe it to themselves to just occasionally glance over and watch how Leggett practices.
“When special kids come along there’s just not enough that you can say about them,” he said.
