New Assistant Hoops Coach: Bacari Alexander
[press release]
April 24, 2010
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan men's basketball head coach John Beilein announced today (Saturday, April 24) the hiring of Bacari Alexander as an assistant coach for the Wolverine program.
"I am very excited about the addition of Bacari Alexander to our coaching staff," said Beilein. "From the very beginning of this search, I had specific qualities and characteristics I was looking for in our next basketball coach. Bacari fits that profile 100 percent."
"He has strong roots in Michigan and significant recruiting experience both here and in neighboring states," added Beilein. "He is a passionate teacher with strong communication skills. Bacari is a former post player and has a proven ability in the development of big men at the college level. With our young front court, that was an important factor in my final selection. I look forward to Bacari's immediate and very positive impact on the growth of our program."
More after the jump!
"My family and I are very excited to be part of the Michigan family," said Alexander. "As a native of the State of Michigan, I feel very fortunate to be associated with such a great program. For a lack of better terms this is a match made in heaven for me.
"I am anxious to start working with this young and developing team, and I am eager and motivated to recruit the kind of student-athletes that will put Michigan back to the top of the Big Ten."
Alexander comes to Michigan after a nine-year Division I coaching career, spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Western Michigan (2008-10). Working with the Broncos’ young group of frontcourt players, Alexander helped Flenard Whitfield make the MAC All-Freshman Team in 2009, while assisting WMU to its second-straight Mid-American Conference West championship, its fourth in the last six years. WMU went 18-15 in 2010 with a runner-up finish in the west division of the MAC.
Before making his way to Western Michigan, Alexander spent one season (2007-08) in the MAC at Ohio where he helped the Bobcats finish 20-13 overall, 9-7 in the MAC, while advancing to the second round of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.
Alexander began his coaching career spending six seasons coaching at his alma mater, University of Detroit, under head coach Perry Watson. Alexander helped the Titans compile 96 wins in six seasons, including 53 victories in the Horizon League. The Titans finished .500 or better in conference play in five-of-six seasons with Alexander on staff.
In his collegiate playing career, Alexander played two seasons at Robert Morris, where he was named to the Northeast Conference All-Newcomer Team in 1995, before transferring to Detroit.
In his final two seasons, Alexander helped the Titans win a pair of Midwestern Collegiate Conference regular season championships and reach back-to-back NCAA Tournaments (1998 and 1999). He started 57 of 62 games and was named to the MCC All-Defensive Team as a senior. Alexander played high school basketball at Detroit Southwestern.
[/press release]
MGoProfile of Alexander coming after the weekend.
That he is a product of the Detroit Public School League is another big factor. It gives Michigan two widely respected assistants with the PSL in Jackson and Alexander. “I’m a grass-roots guy. I’ve done very well in recruiting the national urban areas of the United States, let alone Detroit,” Alexander said. “I’m a PSL product and a lot of times it helps with regards to recruiting because people tend to embrace their own. So that can be, that has been an advantage.It's also clear from Rothstein's article that Alexander will be working with Michigan's frontcourt players, as he did at WMU. I also liked this quote from the Gazette article, where he sounds very "Michigan Man"ish:
"You know, in short, it's a dream job," said Alexander, who grew up in Detroit and later played and coached at Detroit Mercy. "I can't put it any better than that. If you grow up in the state of Michigan ... the University of Michigan is a global entity. To be fortunate enough to get this opportunity is a blessing."I think he'll be a great addition to the staff.
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Q: Perry (Watson) probably had a large influence in you and the way you’ve developed as a coach. Are there other people who have influenced how you coach now? BA: “Certainly. I played high school ball under the guidance of Larry Pierce at Detroit Southwestern and coach Pierce and his staff were very influential. You fast-forward on, the time I spent under Jarrett Durham at Robert Morris under his staff, that was a great experience even though we struggled to win games. Then when you fast-forward, man, to the staff that I had played under. Coach (Mike) Jackson, Coach David Greer the head coach at Wayne State. Mickey Barrett, the athletics director of U of D Jesuit high school. All those guys were a significant influence. Not to mention Detroit is a pretty unique place because every head or assistant coach on the high school level has a hand in your development. So I really attribute a lot of my successes thus far to the community as a whole in metropolitan Detroit and the surrounding suburbs, every coach is pulling you to the side, giving you advice. It’s been really significant. You talk about the time with Tim O’Shea and Steve Hawkins in the Mid American, you couldn’t ask for better leadership during those times.”Mark Snyder highlights Alexander's broader connections in a Free Press piece titled New Michigan basketball assistant Bacari Alexander plugged in across the country. This part was also interesting:
Alexander was a fan of U-M while growing up in the state and knows many of the former players from the 1980s and '90s. He said former Wolverine Jalen Rose and Alexander's coach at UDM, Perry Watson -- also a former U-M assistant -- offered support for the job.
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