To Arcadia, He Is Alexander the Great

Danny Alexander was an all-star in youth sports, from basketball to baseball to football.

By his sophomore year at Arcadia High, he was a 6-foot-6 starter on the varsity basketball team and a closer for the baseball team.

Now that he’s a senior, Alexander has undergone nothing short of a radical change in focus.

In less than three years, he has become one of the top volleyball players in Southern California, earning a scholarship to Long Beach State and selection as one of 18 players trying out for 12 spots on the U.S. junior national team.

No longer sporting short hair or wearing Nike clothes and shoes, he is wearing long curls, board shorts, sandals and designer sunglasses.

He has adopted the attire, attitude and passion of a volleyball player.

“I was amazed it happened this way,” he said.

Luck changed his athletic direction.

At the end of his sophomore basketball season, his arm was not feeling well and he said he felt pressure from the baseball program.

“The commitment was really year round,” he said. “It was so draining on my body.”

He decided to drop baseball and find a sport that would complement basketball.

“I saw volleyball on TV and saw how they could jump,” he said. “I thought if I could increase my vertical leap a lot more, it would help me with rebounding.”

He knew nothing about volleyball. His new teammates had to teach him where to stand on the court. But Coach Chuck Freberg was excited about his future.

“I saw the potential,” he said. “He was like a puppy.”

Hitting the ball came naturally, but blocking was more difficult to pick up.

“I would put my hands straight up in the air instead of reaching over the net,” Alexander said.

At the end of his junior year, Alexander joined a club team for the first time and played at the junior nationals in Texas. Suddenly, college coaches were calling him and sending mail.

“I got a letter from UCLA,” he said. “I was so excited.”

What everyone has begun to recognize is that Alexander has the type of quick jumping skills and strong hitting techniques to excel in volleyball.

“He’s going to be a very dominant player,” Freberg said. “I doubt there’s anyone in our division that can stay with him if we are consistent. He can control the net.”

Volleyball helped Alexander in basketball, where he averaged 22.4 points and 12.2 rebounds last season while earning All-Pacific League honors.

But volleyball has become his favorite sport. He watches it on television and can identify the standouts, from Karch Kiraly to Mike Lambert.

Even his younger brothers, ages 16, 11 and 7, have become volleyball fans.

“I’ve come to enjoy it way more than basketball,” Alexander said. “I like the overall atmosphere.”

Alexander is hardly resting on his rapid rise in the volleyball world. “I’ll work and work until I perfect it,” he said.

*

Chris Johnson, an All-City guard from Los Angeles Jordan, signed a letter of intent with UC Riverside, becoming the first Jordan basketball player since 1982 to sign with an NCAA Division I school.

*

Quarterback Josh Portis, who graduated from Woodland Hills Taft in January so he could participate in spring football drills at Florida, passed for 253 yards and four touchdowns in front of 58,500 in Florida’s spring scrimmage. Not bad for a 17-year-old freshman.