Prospect Spotlight: Alex McAleer (2020)
With great length, height and an already versatile set of skills, Central DeWitt sophomore Alex McAleer is certainly one of the state’s more intriguing 2020 prospects.
A 6-foot-5 forward, McAleer spent his summer playing with one of the nation’s best grassroots teams, Iowa Barnstormers 15U. And improved greatly on his already existing set of skills.
Iowa’s 9th-ranked 2020, he explained to PHIA just what it is that makes him one of the state’s best young players.
“I’m more of a defensive kind of guy, it helps with my long body and long arms on defense. And I’m unselfish with the ball,” said McAleer.
“I’d say I can play the small forward, but not only that, I can go down and play more of a power forward or center if my team needs me to. And I can handle the ball, and be another person to bring the ball up the court.”
Playing in the adidas Gauntlet can be a valuable learning lesson for any young prospect. And his role with the ‘Stormers this past summer was to bang in the post, and get his teammates open.
“My role with them was to be more of a power forward, set screens, get guys open, battle underneath for the boards, scoring in the paint, and just battling underneath,” said McAleer.
“It was a great time playing with them this summer. I learned a lot.”
As for his recruitment, there’ still three high school seasons and two important grassroots season to see that materialize. But there is one Nebraska D2 that has a bit of a jump start on things.
“During the summer I went to camp at Wayne State for the day, and talked to the assistant coach there. He said he’s seen me play a couple times and he really likes how I play. But other than that I haven’t really heard from any coaches,” said McAleer.
“I’m just hoping that I get seen some more from some other colleges, and they see how my game is and my work ethic and things like that.”
In the meantime , he’ll head into his sophomore season with a full head of steam, and look to improve upon his stellar frosh season.
“I was the second leading scorer last year, but now I‘m going to need to step up and help out even more,” said McAleer. “I think that we should be pretty decent, and I won’t be the only one that we rely on.”