Wendell Paul Alexis (born July 31, 1964) is a retired 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 (appr ...

player who played for several European clubs, between 1986 and 2004, most notably for

ALBA Berlin Alba Berlin is a German professional basketball club that is based in Berlin, Germany. The club was founded in 1991, and is today the largest German national basketball club by membership figures. Alba Berlin hosts its home games at the Mercedes ...

, where he was voted

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the

German Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

four times, during his 6-year stay with the club.

High school

Alexis attended and played basketball at Christ The King Regional High School, in

Middle Village, Queens Middle Village is a mainly residential neighborhood in the central section of the borough of Queens, New York City, bounded to the north by the Long Island Expressway, to the east by Woodhaven Boulevard, to the south by Cooper Avenue and the forme ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

College career

Alexis played

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 ...

for the

Syracuse Orange The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference. The school's mascot is ...

men, from 1982 until 1986, being a starter during his senior year.

Professional career

Alexis was drafted by the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

, just one pick ahead of future

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

member

Dražen Petrović Dražen Petrović (; 22 October 1964 – 7 June 1993) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he initially achieved success playing professional basketball in Europe in the 1980s, before joining the Natio ...

. Alexis never played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA), though, but he went on to play in Europe until 2004. He settled in Spain for his first two years there, winning the

Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people * Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager * Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player * Vitomir ...

in 1988, with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. From 1988 until 1993, Alexis played in Italy, where he reached the domestic championship's finals in 1989, as a team member of Enichem Livorno. After a brief return to Forum Valladolid, he moved to Israel. As a player for

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

, he won the Israeli League championship. Alexis spent another year in Italy, at

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...

, before joining French club Levallois. He then moved to Berlin for

ALBA ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scottish people, Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed i ...

, where he would stay until 2002. Alexis won the German League championship every season there, and he was chosen as the competition's MVP in 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2002. He is still the club's all-time leading scorer, with 5,922 points scored overall, being dubbed "Iceman" by the fans. Alexis competed in the

FIBA EuroStars FIBA EuroStars was an annual event, organized by FIBA Europe, as a showcase basketball game, from the 1996–97 season, until the 1999–2000 season. Commonly considered as the European equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game, the FIBA EuroStars game ...

games of 1997–98 and 1998–99, as a member of the Western rosters. After playing with the Greek club PAOK, for one year, Alexis returned to Germany, and won the

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's European-wide second level. Clubs mainly qualify for the competition based on their performance in nation ...

(FIBA EuroCup Challenge) title with

Mitteldeutscher BC Mitteldeutscher Basketball Club ( en, Central German Basketball Club), for sponsorship reasons named SYNTAINICS MBC, and commonly known as MBC, is a professional basketball club based in Weißenfels, Germany. The club currently plays in the Baske ...

National team career

Alexis also represented the senior United States national team at the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 n ...

, where Team USA played without any

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

players being available, due to the

NBA lockout The NBA lockout may refer to any of the four lockouts in the history of the National Basketball Association: *The 1995 NBA lockout, which lasted for three months before the 1995–96 season. *The 1996 NBA lockout, which lasted for a couple of hour ...

. He won the bronze medal at the tournament, and he was the team's second best scorer.

Coaching career

After the end of his active professional basketball playing career, Alexis worked as an assistant

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

of the

NJIT {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

Highlanders

team. In September 2008, Alexis was named an assistant coach of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

Austin Toros Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

.Toros Basketball: Bench Changes
/ref>

References

External links

Euroleague.net Profile

Italian League Profile

Spanish League Profile

German League Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexis, Wendell 1964 births Living people 1998 FIBA World Championship players Alba Berlin players Basketball coaches from New York (state) American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City CB Valladolid players Golden State Warriors draft picks Israeli Basketball Premier League players Levallois Sporting Club Basket players Libertas Liburnia Basket Livorno players Liga ACB players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players Mens Sana Basket players Mitteldeutscher BC players NJIT Highlanders men's basketball coaches P.A.O.K. BC players Power forwards (basketball) Real Madrid Baloncesto players Sportspeople from Brooklyn Syracuse Orange men's basketball players United States men's national basketball team players Viola Reggio Calabria players