One
of the top basketball recruits in his class, Chicago Curie’s junior center, Cliff
Alexander, has set a bright future for himself—most likely on one of the more
prestigious college basketball courts in the country. At 6’9”, 240 lbs,
Alexander ranks fourth in the nation and second in the state of Illinois for
the class of 2014 according to rivals.com. However, it wasn’t until he entered
high school, Alexander says, that things really started to get going involving
his basketball career.
“My
freshman year,” he says is when it became evident that his talent outshined the
others. “After my freshman season, they said I was going to be really good.”
So
good, in fact, that Cliff Alexander and Chicago Simeon standout Jabari Parker
were the only unanimous selections to the First All Tournament Team for the
recently completed 82nd Annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament. Some
observers say he “absolutely dominated” the tournament and may have been the
best player on the court.
Having
only started playing organized basketball in eighth grade, Alexander hasn’t
received as much overwhelming publicity as Parker and Chicago Whitney Young’s Jahlil
Okafor, the number one recruit in the nation for the class of 2014. However,
going into his sophomore year, Cliff was already receiving scholarship offers
from several major college basketball programs.
“First,
I received an offer from Illinois. I didn’t show any emotion, but deep down
inside it was like ‘Wow, I got an offer from Illinois. That’s a big deal.’”
Since
then, Alexander has received offers from a number of esteemed Division-1 college
basketball programs including: Baylor, Connecticut, DePaul, Florida State, Indiana,
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Tennessee,
and Wisconsin.
Although
he does not plan to narrow down his list until the end of the year, Alexander
says he “[likes] Kentucky and Michigan State. They get the ball up and run.”
Modeling
his game after New York Knicks’ star Amar’e Stoudemire, Alexander sees
similarities amongst their “jump shots, pick n’ pop, and great screens.”
Personally,
Alexander describes himself as one who “plays great defense and rebounds the
ball, but I’m still working on my jump shot and ball handling.”
Crediting
numerous teammates, coaches, and friends with helping him develop into the
elite player that he is today; Alexander specifically thanks his eighth grade
coach for starting him off and setting the platform for a successful career
still in the making. He also credits his mother for providing a strong support
system throughout his life.
“My
mom motivates me to go to school, get good grades, and go hard on the court.”
Both
on and off the court, Alexander is closest to Curie’s junior point guard off
the bench, Alondre Pickens.
“I
connect most with Alondre out of all the guys on the team. He’s like my little
brother.”
As
for his future, Alexander’s biggest goal is to be drafted into the NBA. An avid
fan, he is a keen follower of the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Los
Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, and Oklahoma City Thunder. Along
with Amar’e Stoudemire, Alexander looks up to Thunder standout Kevin Durant as a
role model.
Cliff
has a big reputation built up and will continue to be watched by major
recruiters throughout the next two seasons of his high school career. However,
when asked if he ever feels any extra pressure knowing the extent to which
people are counting on him, Cliff responds, “I don’t pay attention to all of
that. I just play my game.”
