Published: June 16, 2008 12:11 am      

Alexander’s decision an easy one

MORGANTOWN — It would have been easy to start here by writing, “Say it ain’t so, Joe,” but c’mon, we all knew what Joe Alexander was going to do.

He’s leaving West Virginia and going to the NBA.

Wouldn’t you?

Like who wins the lottery and turns it down? Who says “I’m sorry, but I have an exam to study for” when Jennifer Garner asks him to join her for dinner?

Joe Alexander had no choice once he worked out for the NBA’s top honchos.

They saw a 6-foot-8 kid who can bang his head on the rim, an intelligent, hard-working, honest, engaging, Adonis of an athlete who can win basketball games and bring fans into their arenas.

Now the only question is if he’ll be Broadway Joe or Joe Buck.

See, just as he was down the stretch as the Mountaineers made their run into the NCAA Tournament and to the Sweet 16, he was a can’t miss.

Ladies and gentleman, we’re going to have an NBA player from West Virginia University.

The “Curse of Catlett” is over.

As hard as it is to imagine, Catlett coached a quarter of a century at WVU and never recruited a player who played in an NBA game. Oh, he had players drafted, but none of them made the grade.

You have to go back to Lowes Moore to find the last NBA player to come out of West Virginia. The NBA could find players in Croatia and China but they couldn’t find one at a major program in the Atlantic 10, and then, the Big East.

Rest assured, there’s nothing that’s going to keep Alexander out of the NBA.

Not as driven as he is.

It is difficult to imagine what kind of year Joe Alexander has had.

Go back to the final days of the Mountaineers’ 2006-07 season, when West Virginia won the NIT with Alexander a virtual non-contributor.

He scored two field goals in the final three games, scored only five points. He did not score in double figures in the final nine games of the season. He scored 20 points in a game only once all year.

Then his coach, John Beilein, left. He did not ask to join him, such was their relationship.

As much as Beilein did right while he was at WVU, he never could figure a way to reach Alexander and after a while pretty much gave up trying.

A new coach, Bob Huggins, was coming to town and he had no idea what to expect. Thoughts of transferring crossed his mind, but from the moment he met Huggins, he knew he was the man who could offer him what he wanted.

Huggins challenged Alexander.

He pushed him.

He drove him.

And Alexander responded.

Huggins wanted him to get stronger, he became a weight room warrior. He wanted him to rebound, he crashed the boards. He wanted him to play defense, he became a shot-blocking sensation.

It didn’t come easily. Early on, if you will recall, Huggins talked more of what Alexander did wrong than what he did right and the truth was, he was doing more wrong than right.

There were some really tough times. Alexander had only one field goal and six points against Tennessee. He shot 1 for 9 against Radford.

It seemed NBA stood not for National Basketball Association but for No Baskets Anymore.

Then, in mid-season, he suffered a groin injury and his game suffered badly. He missed the South Florida game. He had trouble reaching double figures.

As February turned to March, the NBA seemed to be the furthest thing from his mind and Alexander was the furthest thing from NBA scouts’ minds.

And then Huggins broke through to Alexander, and the kid responded like few before him have. He put the Mountaineers on his back and propelled them into the national spotlight. He scored 32 in consecutive games against two of the best defensive teams in the Big East in UConn and Pitt, added 29 against St. John’s, 34 against Providence.

He took WVU to the NCAA Tournament, helped them beat Arizona and Duke — yes, remember, they beat Arizona and Duke in the first two rounds — before he fouled out and WVU lost in overtime to Xavier.

If he had returned, West Virginia would have been richer but Alexander would have been about a million, maybe more, dollars poorer. If his absence hurts WVU next year, his presence in the NBA will help them recruit players in future years.

So, all I can say is, Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me, oh, my-oh.

E-mail Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com.