Phil Jackson scouted D'Angelo Russell in person, got stuck in the Ohio State student section

Phil Jackson told us recently that he'd hit the road this Spring to watch some draft prospects live. Unless I missed a prior game attended (kinda hard to go unnoticed when you are 6'8 and quite famous), Thursday night was Phil's first stop. He went to Ohio State-Nebraska to get a look at D'Angelo Russell, who had a poor shooting performance but quite a nice night distributing in the Buckeyes' blowout win.

Phil sat in the student section, which meant he got kinda trapped when they did their culty post-game alma mater singing:

"What? No. I wasn't trying to leave. Just takin' my time putting on this scarf. And swaying. I love to sway. I came here to sway." (That's Knicks head of scouting Kristian Petesic at Dad's side, by the way. He's not here to sway.)

And what did Phil think of the young Russell? From Cleveland.com (who get a h/t on the video, too):

"He's a great-looking kid," Jackson said as he headed out of the arena. "Great prospect."

Agreed! Probably shouldn't have uttered even that nothing of a comment, though, Phil:

Sources: Knicks president Phil Jackson will likely face a league fine for commenting on OSU's D'Angelo Russell, a draft-ineligible player.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) February 27, 2015

That's what you get for being polite when someone asks you a question. Shoulda made it worth the money and said something really bizarre.

Here's the only other trace of a quote you'll get from the evening:

We asked Phil Jackson if he would coach our Intramural team in the @OSURec playoffs... he respectfully declined.

— OSU BBall Managers (@OSUManagers) February 26, 2015

Too bad (FINE HIM FOR THAT TOO, BY THE WAY). I'm interested to see where Phil goes the rest of the year. We'll keep track of him along the way.

Meanwhile, don't get all caught up in the draft and forget you have an open roster spot, guys! Make a draft pick out of the D-League or free agency pool right now!!!