Bacari Torrell Alexander (born September 15, 1976) is an American

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 ...

coach, formerly the men's

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 ...

head coach at Detroit Mercy. He is a former assistant coach at

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and Detroit Mercy. At Michigan, Alexander was responsible for coaching the team's post players, developing defensive strategies, scouting opponents and on-court coaching. In six seasons as an assistant coach under Michigan head coach

John Beilein John Patrick Beilein ( ; born February 5, 1953) is an American professional basketball coach who currently serves as the Senior Player Development Advisor for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before being hired b ...

, Michigan advanced to the NCAA tournament each year, won

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

regular season championships in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and appeared in the Elite 8 in 2014 and the National Championship in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Playing career

Alexander was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

and played high school basketball at

Detroit Southwestern High School Southwestern High School was a high school in Southwest Detroit, Michigan. It is part of the Detroit Public Schools district. The school's area, Southwest Detroit, has the majority of Detroit's Latino population.Foley, Aaron.Closing southwest Detro ...

. He starred in two seasons of college basketball at

Robert Morris University Robert Morris University (RMU) is a private university in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1921 and is named after Robert Morris, known as the "financier of the mericanrevolution." It enrolls nearly 5,000 students and offers 60 b ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

an earned NEC All-Newcomer honors in his freshman campaign (1994–95 season) before transferring to Detroit Mercy. In two seasons with the Detroit, Alexander appeared in 62 games and, along with teammate and fellow co-captain

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (born December 11, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and bassist. He is best known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of The Jackson ...

, helped lead the Titans to back-to-back NCAA tournament berths in 1998 and 1999. He was known as "the enforcer" on the Titans' 1999 team. From 1999 to 2001, Alexander played with the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

, participating in over 300 plus shows in 13 countries. He also directed camps for the Globetrotters and served as an "Advance Ambassador" for the team marketing and promotions. Alexander described his time with the Globetrotters as "the toughest job in professional ... anything. You travel to a different city every day and twice on Sunday. I played near 10 NBA regular seasons in two seasons with the Globetrotters."

Coaching career

In 2001, Alexander began his coaching career as an assistant coach to

Perry Watson Perry Watson (born April 30, 1950) is an American college basketball coach from Detroit, Michigan. He played for Eastern Michigan University (where he was a teammate of George Gervin), graduating in 1972. In 1977, Watson took the head coaching po ...

at Detroit Mercy. He has held assistant coaching positions at Detroit (2001–2007), Ohio with Tim Oshea (2007–08), and Steve Hawkins at Western Michigan(2008–2010). Alexander also developed a reputation as an intense coach and sharp dresser and was recognized by CollegeInsider.com's Runway to the Fashionable Four as the most fashionable assistant coach in the United States in 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2010. He was also the runner-up in 2008. No other coach has won the award four times.

Assistant at Michigan

In April 2010, Alexander was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan. At the time, Alexander told reporters, "You know, in short, it's a dream job. I can't put it any better than that. If you grow up in the state of Michigan ... the University of Michigan is a global entity. To be fortunate enough to get this opportunity is a blessing." At Michigan, Alexander has been responsible for coaching the team's post players, developing defensive strategies, scouting opponents and on-court coaching. In Alexander's four seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan, the Wolverines have advanced each year to the NCAA tournament, won a Big Ten Conference regular season championship in 2012 and 2014, and advanced to the Final Four as the National Finalist in 2013 and Elite 8 2014. Alexander's creative and inspiring pregame speeches, often involving props, were credited with keeping the team loose and ready to compete. Before a game against Michigan State, Alexander wore a construction hat and safety goggles while urging the group to "go to work". Before the team's Sweet Sixteen game against Kansas, he placed a picture of a Jayhawk (Kansas' mascot) in a birdcage and told the team "The JayHawk needed to be caged". Before Michigan's Elite Eight victory over Florida, Alexander sent one of the team's student managers, James Peretzman, to purchase a can of

Pringles Pringles is an American brand of stackable potato-based crisps. Originally sold by Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1968 and marketed as "Pringle's Newfangled Potato Chips", the brand was sold in 2012 to the current owner, Kellogg's. As of 2011, Pri ...

potato chips and then placed a Pringle on the shoulder of each Michigan starter and inspired the team to "play with a chip on its shoulder". On April 6, 2013, Alexander was profiled in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as "a showman often ranked among college basketball's most fashionable assistants" and "a recruiter who can regale elite young players with tales from his two seasons with the Globetrotters."

Head coach of Detroit Mercy

On April 21, 2016 Detroit Mercy announced Alexander as the new head coach of the men's basketball team, replacing

Ray McCallum Ray Michael McCallum Sr. (born March 6, 1961) is an American college basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach for Tulane. He previously served as the head coach for the men's basketball team at the University of Detroit Mercy. He is a ...

. On March 26, 2018, after 47 combined losses in 2 seasons, Detroit fired Alexander.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Bacari 1976 births Living people Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball coaches Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball players Harlem Globetrotters players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball coaches Ohio Bobcats men's basketball coaches Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball players Southwestern High School (Michigan) alumni Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Michigan Basketball players from Detroit