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Ty-Shon Alexander doesn't waste time when it comes to basketball.
When he was a high school freshman, Alexander played AAU basketball at the 17U level on the Under Armour Association.
Just after his sophomore year started, the Concord, N.C. native transferred to Oak Hill Academy (Va.)--the high school basketball powerhouse that has seen players like Kevin Durant, Rajon Rondo, and Carmelo Anthony once walk its halls.
That following season, he would help Oak Hill down La Lumiere (Ind.) in the Dick’s Sporting Goods National Championship game at Madison Square Garden, putting the finishing touches on a 45-1 year.
Staying in tune with his fast-moving career, he ended his college recruitment process fairly early.
Alexander, a four-star shooting guard according to 247 Sports, had just started to break through on a Division I scope. He committed to Creighton in Fall 2015, electing to play for the Bluejays over offers from Virginia Tech, Clemson, and Charlotte.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Alexander is a four-star recruit, according to 247 sports.
As a senior at Oak Hill, he averaged 14.1 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game. Almost two-thirds of his shot attempts came from long range, and he delivered, shooting an impressive 46.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Alexander would be a perfect fit in Greg McDermott’s system that is typically filled with shooters and scorers in an up-tempo style of offense.
According to KenPom, the Bluejays had the ninth-shortest average length of possession this past season. They also boasted the second best offense in the Big East, averaging 82.1 points per game, which was also a top 20 offense in the NCAA.
Creighton did a lot of damage in transition and from long range, and Alexander thrives in both situations. Offensively, he’s a dangerous player off of catch-and-shoot situations. If he can get his feet set, he’s a threat to knock down the open shot. He can also pull up off the dribble.
While most of his contributions will most likely come from the perimeter, he is far from one-dimensional. He is solid when it comes to attacking the basket and is excellent from the free throw line.
With Creighton’s leading scorer Marcus Foster about to graduate after this upcoming season, Alexander can be a perfect transition to maintain continuity in a scoring sense. While his minutes aren’t clear-cut for now, there’s a possibility that they could be a nice one-two punch together, or he can be a nice fill-in off the bench when Foster needs a spell.
Defensively, he plays with great energy and is capable at this end of the court, but make no mistake, he will be making a name for himself and be best known for his scoring ability.
When he heats up, he is a dangerous player who is comfortable playing both on and off the ball and should be able to make an impact right away.
Last season, the Bluejays shot 39.8 percent from deep, good for 13th in the country.
He comes into Creighton alongside fellow guard Mitchell Ballock (Eudora, Kan./Eudora HS) and center Jacob Epperson (Melbourne, Australia/La Lumiere, Ind.).