Wendell Alexis

Who is Wendell Alexis?

Wendell Alexis is a retired American basketball player who played for several European clubs between 1986 and 2004, most notably for ALBA Berlin, where he was voted MVP of the German Bundesliga three times during his 6-year stint.

After attending Christ The King Regional High School, Alexis played for the Syracuse Orangemen from 1982 until 1986, being a starter during his senior year. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors just one pick ahead of future Hall of Fame member Dražen Petrović. Alexis never played in the NBA, though, but went on to play in Europe until 2004. He settled in Spain for his first two years there, winning the Korać Cup in 1988 with Real Madrid. From 1988 until 1993, Alexis played in Italy, where he reached the domestic championship's finals in 1989 as a team member of Enichem Livorno and was voted MVP of the second division in 1993. After a brief return to Forum Valladolid, he moved to Israel. As a player for Maccabi Tel Aviv, he won the Israeli championship and was voted MVP of that tournament. Alexis spent another year in Italy at Reggio Calabria before joining French club Levallois Sporting Club Basket.

He then moved to Berlin, where he would stay until 2002. Alexis won the German championship every season there and was chosen as the competition's MVP in 1998, 2000 and 2002. He still is the club's all-time leading scorer with 5922 points overall, being dubbed "Iceman" by the fans. Alexis competed in the FIBA EuroStars games of 1997/98 and 1998/99 as a member of the Western rosters. He also represented the United States at the 1998 FIBA World Championship with no NBA player available due to the lockout, and was the team's second best scorer. After playing for the Greek club PAOK Thessaloniki for one year, Alexis returned to Germany and won the FIBA Europe Cup with Mitteldeutscher BC. Since the end of his active career, he has worked as the assistant coach of the NJIT Highlanders basketball team. In September 2008, Alexis was named assistant coach of the NBA Development League's Austin Toros.