Head coach Vince Alexander enters his 11th year at the helm of the USC Aiken men’s basketball program for the 2015-16 season.
Alexander has turned the program into a perennial national title contender.
After having to reload prior to the 2014-15 season, Alexander coached his youthful team to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. He had an all-conference performer and Arbry Butler entered the record books with the ninth-most blocks in a single season in USC Aiken history.
The 2013-14 team set or tied 21 school records and eight Peach Belt Conference records en route to a berth in the Final Four, marking the deepest the Pacers had ever reached in the program’s history. Alexander led the team to a 33-4 record, including an 18-1 mark in the PBC.
The Pacers claimed the PBC regular-season title, conference title and won their second consecutive Southeast Regional Championship. With a senior-heavy team, Alexander coached the nation’s leading shot blocker in Alvin Brown while also having All-American Ronald Zimmerman on the court.
Brown was the first player to ever be named PBC Defensive Player of the Year twice during a career. DeVontae Wright earned first-team all-conference honors while Zimmerman and Paul Larsen, a preseason All-American, were tabbed second-team recipients. Wright was named MVP of the PBC Tournament and NCAA Southeast Regional.
Alexander garnered PBC Coach of the Year honors in addition to the Southeast District Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
The back-to-back-to-back Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year, Alexander was tabbed as the Southeast District Coach of the Year in the 2012-13 season. He was named a finalist for the Clarence “Big House” Gaines National Coach of the Year award.
Alexander has turned the Pacer men’s basketball program into a national power over the course of the last seven seasons.
Alexander became the all-time wins leader for the USC Aiken men’s basketball program in the Pacers’ 108-79 road win over Francis Marion on Monday, Dec. 17, 2012. Alexander is now 272-171 all-time in 15 seasons as a head coach. In eight years as head coach of the Pacers, Alexander is 183-97.
Alexander has guided USC Aiken to historic heights during his time in charge. In 2007-08, USC Aiken reached the national rankings for the first time ever before ending the year by winning the Peach Belt Conference regular-season crown. The Pacers, who won a school-record 27 games in the 2007-08 season, were the top seed in the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional during the 2007-08 campaign. Alexander was chosen as the 2007-08 South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year in addition to claiming conference Coach of the Year plaudits.
Alexander guided the 2008-09 Peach Belt Conference men’s basketball team to its first-ever “Sweet Sixteen.” One year later in the 2009-10 season, USC Aiken claimed the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship.
USC Aiken has claimed back-to-back Peach Belt Conference regular-season championships (2011-12 and 2012-13) for the first time in program history.
The 2012-13 season under the guidance of Alexander saw the Pacers win the Peach Belt Conference regular-season title, the Peach Belt Conference Tournament title and the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional crown.
In addition to Alexander’s accolades in the 2012-13 season, USC Aiken’s Re’mon Nelson was tabbed as the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year, the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player and the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Southeast Regional Most Outstanding Player. Ronald Zimmerman was named to the All-Conference team and to the All-Regional team. Zimmerman finished the year first nationally in 3-pointers made per game. Paul Larsen was named First-Team All-District and All-Conference.
The home court advantage at the Convocation Center continued in the 2012-13 season as the Pacers went 13-1 at home. The Pacers are 81-17 inside the friendly confines of the Convocation Center during the regular-season over the past seven seasons.
The 2011-2012 season included many strong performances as the Pacers had another good year, going 21-8.
Alexander was picked as Peach Belt Conference Coach of the year as two of his players, Nelson and four-year player Sterling Council, earned PBC All-Conference selections. Council was also selected to the NABC Southeast Region All-District First Team. The Pacers were chosen as the second seed in the Southeast Region before dropping a heartbreaker to Wingate, 73-70, in the Quarterfinals of the Southeast Regional.
USC Aiken was ranked as high as fourth nationally in the 2010-11 season. The Pacers finished the year with a 17-10 record and a second place finish in the extremely tough PBC East Division. Two Pacers earned all-league plaudits with Byron Faison named to the PBC All-Conference Second-Team. Alvin Brown was selected as the PBC Defensive Player of the Year. As a team in the 2010-11 season, USC Aiken finished first nationally in blocked shots with 6.1 swats per outing. Brown guided the Pacer “block party” with 3.3 blocks per game.
Alexander and the Pacers participated in the NCAA Division II Tournament in the 2009-10 season. In 2008-09 the Pacers advanced to their first ever “Sweet Sixteen.”
The 2009-10 Pacers’ campaign ended with USC Aiken falling to Montevallo, 88-71, in the NCAA Southeast Regional semifinal for a trip to what would have been back-to-back “Sweet Sixteen” appearances. The Pacers nevertheless reached the Round of 32 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.
The Pacers reached the Peach Belt Tournament Championship game for the third straight year and claimed their first PBC Tournament Championship since 1993 with a 65-60 victory over Montevallo.
USC Aiken’s Faison was named the 2010 PBC Tournament Most Valuable Player en route to the Pacers’ tournament title. Sophomore forward Kevin Willis was also named to the All-Tournament Team. Faison also garnered a PBC All-Conference selection at the conclusion of the regular season as a second-team member.
USC Aiken concluded the 2009-10 season with a 20-11 record, including three wins over top-20 nationally-ranked opponents.
In the 2008-09 season, USC Aiken opened the year ranked as the No. 1 team in all of NCAA Division II by The Sporting News. The Pacers were ranked as high as second nationally during the regular-season before ending the year with a 25-8 record overall. The Pacers advanced to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship game and the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second straight year in the 2008-09 season.
Alexander led the Pacers to a banner season in 2007-08, his third season as head coach of the USC Aiken men’s basketball program. Alexander engineered a remarkable turnaround as the Pacers finished the season with a 27-4 overall record, including a 19-1 conference record to claim the program’s second Peach Belt Conference regular season title.
USC Aiken broke numerous school records in 2007-08, including most wins (27), conference wins (19), consecutive wins (14), home wins (15), consecutive home wins (15) and most wins to start a season (nine).
The 2007-08 PBC Coach of the Year and South Atlantic District Coach of the Year, Alexander guided USC Aiken to a final ranking of sixth. The Pacers advanced to the championship game of the PBC Tourney and earned the top seed in the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional before falling to Clayton State 60-58.
Alexander guided the Pacers to a combined 15 wins in his first two years with the program. The Pacers were 15-44 in his first two years overall. Since then, Alexander has turned the Pacers into a Division II powerhouse.
While Alexander and his team went through a tough season in 2006-07 marred by injuries and roster shakeups, the coach did reach a milestone when the Pacers beat Allen 92-60 on Dec. 2, 2006, for his 100th career victory.
Alexander joined the USC Aiken community in June of 2005 after serving as head coach for the previous six seasons at Mansfield University, a NCAA Division II institution in Mansfield, Pa.
He became the school’s seventh person to sit at the helm and third since moving to the NCAA Division II ranks in 1990-91. Alexander was hired after standing out in the hiring process to the USC Aiken administration.
“We interviewed an exceptional pool of candidates for this position; however, Vince stood out from the group as a stellar coach,” said then USC Aiken Chancellor Dr. Tom Hallman at a reception to welcome Alexander to campus. “I spoke to several people, including [Mansfield’s] president, who had nothing but respect for Vince personally and professionally.”
In his time at Mansfield, Alexander led the Mountaineers to an 89-74 record, the 2005 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Championship, and four appearances in the PSAC Tournament. Over his last three seasons, Mansfield was 57-29.
The PSAC does not crown a regular-season champion, but Alexander’s 2004-05 squad finished with the best conference record in the 14-team league. The Mountaineers went 10-2 on their way to the Eastern Division Championship. The team finished the season with an overall record of 18-11.
All those accomplishments are even more impressive considering Mansfield was picked to finish fourth in the Eastern Division.
Alexander took over the reins of the Mansfield program in 1999 after serving two seasons as an assistant coach at the university. His first team finished 13-13 and his second squad (2000-01) appeared in the PSAC Tournament for the first time since 1997. Only eight of the 14 PSAC teams, four from each division, advance to the tournament.
After posting a 9-16 mark in 2001-02, the Mountaineers rolled off a pair of 18-win campaigns and a 20-win season.
In 2002-03, Mansfield went 18-11 and returned to the PSAC Tournament, making the first of three consecutive trips to the league championship tourney.
Alexander led the Mountaineers to a 21-7 record in 2003-04 and a second place finish in the PSAC Eastern Division. The team was ranked nationally during the season and with a final NCAA East Region ranking of number six, just missed earning a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
The 2004-05 season saw a second 18-win campaign and for the third time in Alexander’s six seasons as head coach, Mansfield led the PSAC in scoring. The Mountaineers average of 84.7 points per game also ranked 12th in Division II.
At Mansfield, Alexander produced 10 All-Conference players, six First-Team selections and four Second-Team choices, and the 2003 PSAC Eastern Rookie of the Year.
Before arriving at Mansfield as an assistant, Alexander was the head basketball coach at William Penn High School in York, Pa., as well as Dean of Students for the York City School District.
During his two-year tenure as head basketball coach, he guided William Penn to an overall record of 40-15, including a 25-5 mark during the 1996-97 season. His 1995-96 team was the YAIAA co-champion and the York County runner-up. The 1996-97 squad won both the YAIAA and York County titles, and Alexander earned York County Coach of the Year honors.
Prior to his stint at William Penn, Alexander was a physical education instructor and head basketball coach at U.S. Grant High School in Oklahoma City, Okla., from 1992-94 where his teams posted a 29-10 mark. Alexander’s 1994-95 team advanced to the Oklahoma Regional Finals, and he was selected the 1993 Coach of the Year in the Oklahoma City League.
Alexander earned his Associate of Arts Degree in physical education from Blinn College (Texas) in 1987.
At Blinn, he was All-Conference and an All-Region selection. He then attended Oklahoma Baptist University where he earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Physical Education and Recreation in 1989. He served as the team captain for two seasons.
Alexander and his wife, Anita, have one son, Benjamin, and one daughter, Samantha Denae`.
