Oak Harbor alum, Jac Alexander, reflects on collegiate career

As the point guard on the basketball court and quarterback of the football team, Jac Alexander knew how to be a leader. The Oak Harbor alum, now a graduate of Marietta College, reflected on his time playing for the Pioneers, one of the top programs in Division III.
 
Playing for Marietta meant playing in front of raucous crowds at the Ban Johnson Arena, a.k.a. “The Banjo.”            
 
“We would go to these other places, and it would be dead quiet,” said Alexander. “The Banjo was a premier spot for Division III college basketball. When we would play in these big games, the opponents were in awe (of the crowd). It was a really, really neat experience.”
 
The coach, Jon VanderWal, is in his 18th season leading the program. His teams have won over 70 percent of their games and are 323-137 since he took over. The Pioneers have won eight Ohio Athletic Conference titles and advanced as far as the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament five times during his tenure.
 
“Coach VanderWal is the cream of the crop in Division III, one of the best in the country. He’s won so many awards,” said Alexander. “He really taught me what it was like to be held to a standard, taught me about becoming a young man. In basketball, he had an answer for everything – Xs and Os, knowing how to attack. I learned a ton about Xs and Os, and how to carry yourself every day and become a young man.”
 
The high point for Alexander came when he was a sophomore in ’22 and the Pioneers broke through and made it to the Final Four. They beat Christopher Newport University, 81-79, at home in a sectional final to get there. Lukas Isaly scored 38 points to lead Marietta, and the next highest scorer on the team was Mason Lydic, who had 11 points.           
 
“We won something like 27 games in a row. Another really cool thing is that in Division III, the highest seeds in the tournament get home-court advantage until the Final Four,” said Alexander. “If we won out (in the regular season), we knew we’d be able to host all the way. It was sold-out crowds until the Final Four.”
 
Oak Harbor coach Eric Sweet talked about some of the challenges Alexander faced at the collegiate level.
 
“In college, everybody can play at a high level. Jac was behind a good point guard in his first two years, which hindered his time on the court. When he was on the court, he kept the team moving in the right direction; he knew where the ball had to go,” said Sweet. “Early in his career, he was a savvy point guard; he was able to score more and do all the little things. He got some minutes and helped the team make the Final Four run. It’s not easy to crack the lineup. Jon (VanderWal) recruits great players, and Jac was one of those players that was a captain and was respected by his teammates.”
 
As a senior, Alexander averaged 10.1 points and shot 42.6%, including 79.7% from the free-throw line. It was his best season as he averaged 9.3 points as a junior, 4.3 points as a sophomore and 7.9 points as a freshman.
 
Alexander talked about the demands of being a student-athlete.
 
“We had basketball (commitments) from the time we stepped on campus until the time we left in the spring. We did a lot of stuff in the community,” he said. “We had basketball five days per week in the spring. During the season, it was all day, every day.
 
“It was basketball, class, lunch, basketball, lifting, class and so on. We’re trying to build a team that can win a national championship and be the best team in Division III. There were 10-page documents that we had to sign – how we operated, the grades we expected to get, how we were supposed to (behave) out in public, constantly trying to be the best version of ourselves. I learned a ton from Coach VanderWal.”
 
The distance to Marietta from home – which was four hours – was a challenge, he said.
 
“I went down there and I didn’t know anyone except for (Willard alum) Cooper Parrot. One of the really cool things that Marietta College has is a foster-family program. Most people who come down there to play are from Florida, Tennessee, Texas and all over. Coach VanderWal started the program to put you with a family when you get there. Usually they have some kids that are younger; it’s like an extra family. That was really, really neat. That’s the way it is for a lot of people. My foster family was one of my favorite experiences.”
 
Alexander, who set a number of football passing records while leading the Rockets to a regional championship in 2019, also helped the basketball team win its first league and sectional titles in nearly two decades. He also played on the baseball team.