Daniel Alexander (born July 18, 1991) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who last played for the

Perry Lakes Hawks Perry Lakes Hawks is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Perry Lakes Basketball Association (PLBA), the major administrative basketball org ...

of the

NBL1 West NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

and

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

before splitting his first three years as a professional in Australia and the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. He won a SEABL championship with the

Mount Gambier Pioneers Mount Gambier Pioneers is a NBL1 South club based in Mount Gambier, South Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Basketball Mount Gambier, the major administrative basketball organisat ...

in 2017 and an NBA G League championship with the

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the po ...

in 2018.

Early life

Alexander was

homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

growing up until

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

. While living in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, as a third grader, Alexander was inspired to play basketball after attending a

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

game. He was a

sneakerhead Sneaker collecting is the acquisition and trading of sneakers as a hobby. It is often manifested by the use and collection of shoes made for particular sports, particularly basketball and skateboarding. A person involved in sneaker collecting is ...

growing up and had numerous jerseys of his favorite NBA players. Prior to reaching high school, he was a regular in adult pickup games around

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

High school career

Alexander attended

Dripping Springs High School Dripping Springs High School is a public high school in Dripping Springs, Texas, located in Hays County, Texas. The only high school in the Dripping Springs Independent School District, it contains grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. Its enrollment is appro ...

Dripping Springs, Texas Dripping Springs is a city in Hays County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,650 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Geography Dripping Springs is in northern Hays County on U.S. Route 290, which l ...

. A member of the varsity from his freshman year, Alexander helped the team steadily improve each of his first three years. As a junior in 2008–09, he earned district MVP honors after averaging 19.6 points and 12 rebounds per game. In the off-season between his junior and senior years, Alexander was the No. 89-ranked prospect in the country by

Rivals.com Rivals.com (stylized as ''rivals'') is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was found ...

and was featured on the cover of

ESPN Rise ''ESPN HS'' was a high school sports magazine published monthly during the school year in 25 markets around the United States. Founded as ''SchoolSports'' magazine in 1997, the publication changed its name to ''RISE'' in 2006 and was purchased ...

. He also attended the LeBron James Skills Academy and the Vince Carter Skills Academy. He subsequently signed a

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

to play

for

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

in November 2009. At the time, he was considered "a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

in a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

's body" due to his ball handling and passing capabilities. As a senior in 2009–10, Alexander was named First-Team All-District and led the team to the regional semifinals. He was also nominated for the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is an American all-star basketball game played each year for boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the hi ...

College career

Texas A&M

Alexander joined the

Texas A&M Aggies The Texas A&M Aggies are the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "wikt:aggie#Etymology 2, Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also simply referr ...

for the 2010–11 season but was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. He would go on to endure four coaching changes over four years, which he revealed soured his college experience. Alexander made his debut for the Aggies in the 2011–12 season, going on to play in 28 games with four starts and averaging 2.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 11.0 minutes per game. He then played in one game to begin the 2012–13 season before deciding to transfer to

Grand Canyon University Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. The university offers degrees in over 200 areas of study and is administrativel ...

Grand Canyon

Due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

transfer regulations, Alexander was unable to debut for the

Grand Canyon Antelopes The Grand Canyon Antelopes (more commonly referred to as the Lopes) are the 20 athletic teams representing Grand Canyon University, located in Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the university's athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division I level in the ...

until December 2013. Despite missing half of the 2013–14 season, he led the team with 58 3-pointers and 34 blocks and he was named to the WAC All-Newcomer Team. In 22 games, he made 21 starts and averaged 12.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.5 blocks in 33.0 minutes per game. He scored a career-high 22 points on February 22 against

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. Alexander was a consistent starter for the Antelopes upon becoming eligible until roughly a month into the 2014–15 season when he had to adjust to the role of

sixth man The sixth man in basketball is a player who is not a starting lineup, starter but comes off the bench much more often than other reserves, often being the first player to be substituted in, and the first to be used against the other team's subst ...

. In 29 games, he made seven starts and averaged 9.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He scored a season-high 19 points on January 29 against

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

. After graduating from Grand Canyon with a Film degree, Alexander initially did not plan on playing professional basketball but due to the connections he made while travelling with

Athletes in Action Athletes in Action (AIA) is an American sports organization founded in 1966. It is the sports ministry of Cru Ministries, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. History Athletes in Action was started in 1966 by Dave Hannah."Fact Sheet: ...

, he received his first opportunity.

Professional career

Lakeside Lightning (2016)

Alexander began his professional career in Australia in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

with the

Lakeside Lightning Lakeside Lightning is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is owned and managed by Lakeside Baptist Church. The Lightning play their home games at Lakeside R ...

of the

State Basketball League NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

(SBL). He scored 30 points or more 13 times, including a 41-point game on May 27 against the

Joondalup Wolves Joondalup Wolves is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Wanneroo Basketball Association (WBA), the major administrative basketball organisa ...

and a 43-point game on July 22 against the

Willetton Tigers Willetton Tigers is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Willetton Basketball Association (WBA), the major administrative basketball organi ...

. He had 17 double-doubles, including a game with 38 points and 20 rebounds on June 25 against the

Mandurah Magic Mandurah Magic is an NBL1 West club based in Mandurah, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Mandurah Basketball Association (MBA), the major administrative basketball organis ...

. He also had one triple-double with 35 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists on July 9 against the

Perth Redbacks Perth Redbacks is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Perth Basketball Association (PBA), the major administrative basketball organisation ...

. The Lightning missed the playoffs after finishing 11th with a 7–19 record. Alexander appeared in all 26 games, averaging 27.9 points, 12.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.7 blocks per game. He was subsequently named in the SBL All-Star Five.

Northern Arizona Suns (2016–2017)

In October 2016, Alexander joined the

Northern Arizona Suns The Motor City Cruise are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Detroit, and are affiliated with the Detroit Pistons. The Cruise play their home games at Wayne State Fieldhouse. The franchise began play as the Long ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

after a successful tryout. He played in 15 games with four starts during the 2016–17 season before being waived by the Suns on February 5, 2017. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game.

Mount Gambier Pioneers (2017)

Alexander returned to Australia in 2017 to play for the

of the

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was a semi-professional basketball league in Australia comprising both a men's and women's competition. The SEABL began in 1981 and operated for 38 seasons until it was disbanded in 2018. The ...

(SEABL). He led the team with 18.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, shooting at 55% as well as 83% from the free-throw line for the season. He helped the team finish with a 21–3 record and win the SEABL championship. He averaged 13.3 points and 13.3 rebounds in the playoffs. In the grand final, he had 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. He was named player of the week for round 16 and earned All-SEABL First Team honors. He was also named the Pioneers' Team MVP.

Austin Spurs (2017–2018)

In October 2017, Alexander joined the

of the

after a successful tryout. He played in 28 games during the 2017–18 regular season, averaging 3.1 points and 1.8 rebounds in 8.1 minutes per game. He played in two games during the Spurs' playoff run as the team won the NBA G League championship.

Lakeside Lightning (2018)

Alexander returned to Australia for a third time in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, re-joining the Lakeside Lightning in the SBL. He scored 30 points or more seven times, including a 40-point game on June 9 against the

Kalamunda Eastern Suns Kalamunda Eastern Suns is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Kalamunda & Districts Basketball Association (KDBA), the major administrative ...

and a 43-point game on June 15 against the

Cockburn Cougars Cockburn Cougars is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Cockburn Basketball Association (CBA), the major administrative basketball organisa ...

. His league-leading 27.24 points per game in the regular season saw him earn the scoring title. The Lightning finished with a 15–11 record and lost in the quarter-finals. In 20 games, he averaged 26.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He was subsequently named in the All-SBL First Team.

BC Luleå (2018)

On July 27, 2018, Alexander signed with

BC Luleå BasketballClub Luleå is a professional basketball club from Luleå, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the we ...

of the Swedish

Basketligan Svenska Basketligan, or the Swedish Basketball League (SBL), is the premier league for professional basketball in Sweden. The league was originally established in 1992 as Basketligan and was known as that prior to the season of 2006–07, but whe ...

for the 2018–19 season. On November 5, 2018, he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. He suffered a torn ACL and

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

as well as cartilage damage. He averaged 12.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists in nine league games. He also appeared in two

FIBA Europe Cup The FIBA Europe Cup (FEC) is an annual professional club basketball competition organised by FIBA for eligible European clubs. It is FIBA Europe's second level competition. Clubs mainly qualify based on their performance in national leagues an ...

games.

Southland Sharks (2021)

On January 15, 2021, Alexander signed with the

Southland Sharks The Southland Sharks are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Invercargill. The Sharks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Stadium Southland. For sponsorship reasons, they are know ...

for the

2021 New Zealand NBL season The 2021 NBL season was the 40th season of the National Basketball League. As a result of the modified, COVID-affected 2020 season, three of the top four teams in 2019 (Wellington Saints, Hawke's Bay Hawks and Southland Sharks) did not compete. ...

. However, he was replaced on the roster on April 3, 2021, after advising the team he was unable to travel to New Zealand due to family circumstances.

Perry Lakes Hawks (2023)

On January 27, 2023, Alexander signed with the

in Australia for the

2023 NBL1 West season The 2023 NBL1 West season was the third season of the NBL1 West and 34th overall in State Basketball League (SBL) / NBL1 West history. The regular season began on Friday 31 March and ended on Saturday 22 July. The finals began on Friday 28 July a ...

. In 24 games, he averaged 18.96 points, 7.04 rebounds and 2.83 assists per game.

Personal life

Alexander is the son of Dan and Lyn. He is the grandson of Clarence R. Autery, a highly decorated two-star Major General who served 30 years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. Alexander is a devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. After graduating college, he took a youth

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

position at his childhood church.

References

External links

NBA G League player profileGrand Canyon Antelopes college bioTexas A&M Aggies college bioCollege stats
at washingtonpost.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Daniel 1991 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in Sweden American men's basketball players Austin Spurs players Basketball players from Texas Grand Canyon Antelopes men's basketball players Northern Arizona Suns players People from Dripping Springs, Texas Basketball players from Hays County, Texas Power forwards Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball players 21st-century American sportsmen