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Champaign, Ill. - Illinois head coach
Bruce Weber announced today the signing of forward Rodney
Alexander to a national letter of intent. One of the top-ranked
junior college recruits in the nation, the 6-7, 225-pound Alexander
currently attends Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla. He is
a native of Benton Harbor, Mich.
Alexander averaged 13.8 points and
5.3 rebounds this past season at Redlands while shooting 58.7
percent from the field. He is the No. 14-ranked player nationally in
the Junior College Top 125 by Rivals.com. Alexander helped lead
Redlands to a No. 1 ranking in the NJCAA D-1 poll for three straight
weeks during the season, a No. 2 ranking in the final regular season
poll, and an overall record of 29-2 on the year. His coach at
Redlands, Steve Eck, has since taken over at Cowley County C.C. in
Arkansas City, Kan.
Prior to enrolling at Redlands,
Alexander attended Benton Harbor High School under the direction of
head coach Ramsey Nichols. Teaming with DePaul's Wilson Chandler, he
averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds as a senior in 2004-05, helping
lead Benton Harbor to an undefeated regular season and a No. 1
ranking in the state poll.
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"We are thrilled to welcome Rodney
to our program, he's a great kid from a very solid family," Weber
said. "He has experienced success playing in winning programs at
both the high school and junior college levels. He gives us more
athleticism, depth and experience at forward, and he is capable of
playing both power forward and small forward. Rodney was known as a
leaper and rebounder in high school, but while at Redlands he worked
very hard in developing his perimeter game while still being an
inside force."
Alexander will become the first
Michigan native to play for the Illini since Glynn Blackwell of
Highland Park, Mich. (lettered from 1986-88), and he is the first
junior college player to sign with the Illini since Blandon Ferguson
of the College of Southern Idaho signed in the spring of 2001
(lettered from 2002-03). Alexander is the fifth member of Illinois'
2007 recruiting class, joining point guard Demetri McCamey
(Westchester, Ill./St. Joseph H.S.), shooting guard Quinton Watkins
(Compton, Calif./Dominguez H.S.), power forward Bill Cole (Peoria,
Ill./Richwoods H.S.) and center Mike Tisdale (Riverton,
Ill./Riverton H.S.).
[Text copied from
FightingIllini.com news release]
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