Caryn Alexander: 'Basketball Coach's Heaven'

As Caryn Alexander explains it, the Northern Illinois University basketball coaches spotted her 18 blocked shots in a Chicago newspaper but refused to believe it.

No one gets 18 blocks in one game. Well, perhaps Alexander did when she played sports.

When those gaudy numbers appeared again in the paper, the NIU coaches agreed to check out Alexander.

Of course they believed those numbers at Highland Park High School.

"She was a basketball coach's heaven,'' said Highland Park's former basketball . "She was 20 points, 20 rebounds and 20 blocked shots. She was just super."

Alexander is a 1990 graduate of . When this six-footer entered high school, girls sports wasn't such a big deal.

"Girls sports were not important," Alexander said. "Especially at Highland Park. It wasn't pushed."

At the time, Highland Park didn't even have a girls basketball team for Alexander to try out for.

Alexander now teaches and coaches volleyball in Hendersonville, North Carolina. She recently was inducted into the Highland Park High School athletic Hall of Fame.

"I always had fun playing sports,'' she said. "It never felt like a job. I truly enjoyed playing with my teammates. We always had the same purpose."

When Schramm took over coaching both the girls basketball and girls softball programs, he made sure Alexander was included.

"She was a great softball player, too," Schramm said. "She went the whole year at first base without making an error."

Alexander recalled how she was selected to play first base.

"It was my sophomore year,'' she said. "It was the first day of practice and the other girls got to pick what position they wanted to play. When it was my turn, coach Schramm said no, I was to play first base."

Yes, it's good to have a tall first baseman.

In the volleyball world, it took her some time to get adjusted. But now that she teaches it, she's decided it may be her favorite sport.

"I was a late bloomer,'' she said. "Being 6'2'' helped me out."

Basketball kicked in for good her junior year, and Alexander soon became one of the top centers in the area. She averaged close to a triple double (points, rebounds and blocks).

By the time her senior year came around, Schramm's 1990 team became a tough team.

"We had three freshmen who started for us,'' Alexander said. "We won a regional and qualified for the sectional final."

It was time to find a school for Alexander. The College of Lake County came calling with a scholarship. And her two-year run also landed her in the CLC sports Hall of Fame.

Her skill set began to sharpen up at CLC under the direction of coach Don Zeman.

"She was most impressive as a ballplayer because she could do everything at both ends,'' Zeman said. "She was such an unselfish player for someone so talented, and she was always complementary of her teammates for putting her in a position to do good things. She was always giving credit to others, but every great team has to have a great player and boy was she a great one."

At CLC, Alexander was a second-team All-American in the NJCAA.

"She loved to have fun, and never took herself or the game too seriously,'' Zeman said. "But she practiced and played at a high level, with a real desire to always make herself a better player. It was a thrill and a real honor to coach Caryn for two seasons."

All these points, rebounds and blocked shots earned her a spot on the Northern Illinois squad. She was NIU's first recruit off a community college team.

Schramm, of course, received a phone call about this prized recruit.

"I told them that she was a thoroughbred horse who had never been ridden," Schramm said.

The NIU experience was memorable for Alexander.

"It was amazing," she said. "We were in the top 25 in the country. We went to Hawaii. Our games were sold out. I saw the importance of women's sports."