Recruiting Report: Ty-Shon Alexander (2017)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — After a cursory glance at the nation’s No. 2 ranked Oak Hill roster, it might be hard to guess who longtime head coach Steve Smith would draw up a game-winning or game-tying shot for. There are a…
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Continue ReadingSPRINGFIELD, Mo. — After a cursory glance at the nation’s No. 2 ranked Oak Hill roster, it might be hard to guess who longtime head coach Steve Smith would draw up a game-winning or game-tying shot for.
There are a wide range of options that includes five star junior point guard Matt Coleman, SEC signees Mario Kegler (Mississippi State) and Braxton Key (Alabama), and Virginia Tech signee Khadim Sy.
On Saturday, with the storied program trailing Sierra Canyon by two points with 16 seconds remaining in the championship game of the 2016 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions, the Warriors first went to Key, who drove the ball to the cup. Key drew contact, but missed the shot and no foul was called. The ball went out of bounds, back to Oak Hill, setting up another chance with three seconds remaining.
Oak Hill called timeout, and this time, Creighton commit Ty-Shon Alexander knocked down a 3-pointer out of the corner off the inbounds pass as time expired, giving the Warriors the win.
But Alexander — who had the hot hand throughout, knocking down five 3s in the contest — said he wasn’t the first option when Smith drew up the final play in the huddle.
“Really, it was going to go to our big man, Khadim (Sy),” Alexander said. “It was supposed to get in there so we could go to overtime, but coach also had another option for me to go to the outside for me to knock the 3 down in the corner.
“When I saw the ball go up in there air, I knew it was going in.”
For his efforts, Alexander was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, edging a list that not only included his own teammates, but named like Jayson Tatum, Tyler Cook, Cody Riley, Sam Cunliff and several others.
“Coach keeps telling me to shoot the ball, shoot the ball constantly,” Alexander said. “He knows that if I miss one shot, I’ll make the next one, and if I make that one I’ll keep making them. I’ve got to thank coach for actually having me here (at Oak Hill).
“I have more a lot of confidence in myself and making that shot because coach really has me shooting the ball a lot more than I ever have.”
Alexander, a 6-foot-2 2017, chose Creighton early in the recruiting process, even though he has heard from several ACC and SEC schools this season.
“Creighton fits my style of play, they go out there and shoot the ball as well as I do, I chose to make my decision early because coach (Greg) McDermott said I was going to play and that school fits me a lot. I really like it there.”
Alexander said the Tournament of Champions, which drew 25,000 fans over the course of three days to the Missouri State University campus, is atop his list of favorites.
“This one is probably at the top,” Alexander said. “I really love playing here, especially being in a college stadium and there are so many people here and I really like it a lot.”