Trotwood grad Alexander the latest Sinclair hoops sensation

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By Sean McClelland, Staff Writer 1:39 AM Saturday, November 28, 2009

Sinclair Community College men’s basketball coach Jeff Price applauds the recent decision by 6-foot-1 guard Kevin Vest (Carroll High School graduate) to sign with Tusculum College, a Division II school in Greeneville, Tenn.

“The heart-to-heart we have with these kids is, do you want to go Division I and maybe play eight minutes a game or Division II and play 25?” Price said. “Do you want to be on the bench or do you want to play? And D-II ball’s not bad.”

Sinclair, 4-1 heading into its game today, Nov. 28, against Clark State, is becoming a clearinghouse for area talent. In addition to Vest, also starting for the Tartan Pride are forward British Alexander (Trotwood-Madison), who averages 17 points and 8 rebounds, and guard D’Angelo Gates (Thurgood Marshall). Guards Jared Nolan and Shawnee State transfer Derek Ober, both from Jefferson, come off the bench.

The 6-foot-6 Alexander, a cousin and former high school teammate of University of Dayton forward Chris Wright, is attracting interest from Central Michigan, Morehead State, East Tennessee State, Loyola (Chicago) and Virginia Commonwealth.

“He’s really worked hard over the summer to enhance his perimeter game,” Price said. “And he’s had some amazing blocked shots. You’ve seen volleyball kills? Some of his blocked shots look like that.”

Remember him?

A cautionary tale for junior college players might be found in what happened to Mark Anderson (Dunbar), a two-time All-American forward who might be at Miami University had he taken care of business in the classroom last year at Sinclair.

“He got caught up in some people telling him he could go play pro ball right away,” Price said. “So he dropped all his classes.”

Price said Anderson still is a Sinclair student and hopes to sign with a D-II school come April. D-I interest has dried up.

“You hate to see a kid make one wrong decision and have it cost him that much,” Price said. “It wasn’t a complete train wreck, just a speed bump. As long as he doesn’t let it become a train wreck, he’ll be all right.

“I applaud the young man. He’s not let some adversity stop him from his overall plan. So many kids we come across will have that happen, and they’ll just stop.”

Anderson comes around the Sinclair gym now and then, Price said: “He works with us, and our guys are like, ‘C’mon Coach, seriously.’ The freshmen are like, ‘How’d you lose any games with this guy?’ I’m like, ‘Bad coaching?’ ”

Campus tour

• Capital University senior soccer player Steve McCarthy (Alter) was named forward of the year in the Ohio Athletic Conference for the second year in a row after leading the conference in goals (24) and points (55). Sophomore Danny McCarthy (Alter), Steve’s brother and teammate, led the conference in assists (8) and tied for fourth in points (22). Steve was named first-team All-OAC for the third straight year. Danny has made it two years running.

• In other soccer news, Molly Sheils (Centerville), a Capital senior, was named OAC midfielder of the year while repeating as first-team all-league. Ohio Northern’s Angie Pisut (Carroll) and teammate Stacy Barnhart (Tippecanoe), both seniors, also made first team. Pisut led the OAC in scoring (33 points).

If you have news of a local athlete playing sports in college, e-mail smcclelland@DaytonDailyNews.com or call (937) 225-2408.

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