Alex is a role player on the Patriots basketball team. His teammates call him “Al” which is very fitting based on his basic style of play which is sticking to the fundamentals. He has the ability to shoot and drive to the basket. He is smart and uses his intelligence to make up for his lack of size. Alex stands at 5’9” and has been on the team for the past two seasons. He is a transfer from Queens Grant High School and carries a 4.6 GPA. Alex is certainly a student athlete and has made the grade both on and off the court.

How Alex successfully manages his challenging academic schedule and long grinding basketball practices including two games weekly is inspirational. He has three AP courses and is taking a full academic program. He has established priorities and gets his most difficult academic work done first every day. He completes as much of his class work as possible prior to practice. The team normally has late practices starting at 4:45 pm so he takes full advantage of his time. Therefore, time management is another important priority. Dedication and commitment is key to having success in both endeavors, said Alex.

His workout schedule outside of practices is to go to the gym and focus on improving basic basketball skills of shooting, dribbling, passing and footwork. He also goes to the weight room to lift light weights to keep his core body firm and physically strong. When at home he will run one mile or more in his neighborhood 3 times weekly to maintain his stamina and leg strength.

His individual goal was to get accepted into Florida State as his first college choice. This was achieved when he recently received their letter of acceptance. What motivates Alex as an athlete is how to overcome being underestimated due to his lack of size. A smaller player has to work harder than the bigger more gifted athlete. It’s just a fact of life, said Alex. Who understands he must be emotionally and mentally tougher to survive and compete.

After graduation Alex is planning to attend Florida State University to study marine biology as his primary choice for a major. He also has an interest in entrepreneurship and coaching. If he cannot attend Florida State due to the cost of being an out of state resident he will attend UNC Wilmington who also has a highly ranked marine biology program. His back-up then would be Appalachian State University who has a solid biology department.

Up Close and Personal with Alex:
• Most influential person in life beyond his parents and family is his good friend Isaiah Shembo who is his workout buddy and they compete and push each other. I enjoy the competition and Isaiah can play too as he was the last player not to make the team. We have a very good team that has a chance at winning a state championship. We also compete academically which I thoroughly enjoy, said Alex.
• Favorite college team is Florida State.
• Favorite professional team is the Charlotte Hornets.
• Other than basketball his favorite sport is football.
• Enjoys Rap and Hip-Hop music.
• Likes to watch “The Office” on Netflix.
• Best academic subjects are science and history.
• Advice to younger student athletes is no matter what you do keep trying to improve yourself, work real hard and prepare yourself to succeed. You never know when you will get an opportunity so you better be ready to answer the call.