FARGO ¬ Lawrence Alexander thought he could do better with his college options, so the 6-foot-2 guard from Peoria, Ill. decided to attend prep school at St. John's Northwest Military Academy near Milwaukee this year. It paid off in the form of a scholarship offer from North Dakota State.
He visited the campus on Saturday and made his decision Sunday morning in a Fargo hotel. It will give the Bison another option at point guard next fall, a position that appears unsettled as far as a starter.
"The school is bigger than what I thought and I liked the community," Alexander said.
The 165-pound Alexander said he had visits, but no offers, lined up at Hawaii and Boise State, but declined after his NDSU verbal commitment. Out of high school at Manual High School in Peoria, he said he was considering Division I Rhode Island and Division II Southern Indiana. WYZZ-TV in Peoria considered him one of the "top small school basketball players in the state if Illinois."
But he chose the prep school route. He had a single-game high of nine assists in the National Prep School Invitational tournament in February.
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"It gave me a chance to work on my game, get a lot bigger and improve on my academics," he said. "I'm extremely happy that things turned out this way. When I came to prep school, I didn't know where I would end up, but I knew I had to work off and I knew it would pay off."
Alexander averaged 15.4 points, 5 steals and 3 assists his senior year at Manual.
Alexander plans on moving to Fargo this summer to get a head start with the Bison.
