The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/144506
with the Harlem Globetrotters — before he started on the path for which he was destined. "David Greer, one of my mentors and an assistant on my championship teams at Detroit for Perry Watson, was the one who picked up the phone and called me," Alexander recalled. "He told me he'd resigned and was in the running for the Wayne State job, and he said, 'You'd be a great coach.'" Alexander, though, was already set to accept a job in the advancement and development department at his alma mater. Greer, though, wouldn't accept 'no thanks' for an answer. "He made a comment to me that sticks to this day. He said, 'The kids need you,'" he recalled. "That was the last thing I needed to hear. Now here we are 14 seasons later at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor." At Michigan, he and fellow assistant LaVall Jordan have become two of the more respected young coaches in the game under the tutelage of head coach John Beilein and veteran assistant coach Jeff Meyer. Michigan has won the program's first Big Ten championship since 1986 and advanced to the NCAA title game last year under the current staff, rejoining the ranks of the elite. The Return Home Alexander was director of basketball operations for only two months at Detroit before being promoted to an assistant coach, spending six seasons there and helping the Titans compile 96 wins, including 53 victories in the Horizon League.