Rex E. Alexander (June 1, 1924 – March 28, 1982) was a

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

and tennis coach who was the head coach of the

Murray State Racers The Murray State Racers are the athletic teams that represent Murray State University (MSU), located in Murray, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks (for football, the Football Championship Su ...

from 1954 to 1958. An assistant under

Harlan Hodges Harlan Crews Hodges (November 11, 1902 – June 6, 1994) was an American college basketball coach and educator. He was the head coach at Murray State (1948–54) and Idaho (1954–59), then became a high school administrator. Early career Hodges ...

, Alexander was promoted to head coach in 1954 after Hodges left MSU for

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

and former

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

head coach Tom Scott turned down the job. In his four seasons at Murray State, Alexander had a 45–54 record and no tournament appearances. He was replaced by

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the G ...

head coach

Cal Luther Calvin Charles Luther (October 23, 1927 – May 8, 2021) was an American men's college basketball coach. He was the head coach at DePauw, Murray State, Longwood, UT Martin, and Bethel College. He was also head coach of the Egyptian national te ...

on March 5, 1958, but stayed on as an assistant coach and professor. In 1976 he was the recipient of the Murray State Distinguished Professor award. He was inducted into the Murray State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000. Alexander's son David played basketball at

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

in 1971. His grandson Troy played for

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

. Alexander was a native of

Union County, Kentucky Union County is a county in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 13,668. Its county seat is Morganfield. The county was created effective January 15, 1811. The county is located on the left (east) ...

. He died in an automobile accident in 1982.

References

External links

Sports Reference
– Rex Alexander * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Rex 1982 deaths Basketball coaches from Kentucky Murray State Racers baseball coaches Murray State Racers men's basketball coaches People from Union County, Kentucky Murray State University alumni 1924 births