Rhino
6/13/2007, 12:27 PM
Gives a nice little look-over on the incoming freshman experience.
Alexander Adjusting to the System (http://oklahoma.scout.com/2/650648.html)
By Matt Alkire
Scout.com
Posted Jun 11, 2007
It’s tough to pull a Louisiana player out of Tiger Country, but the Oklahoma coaching staff did just that last season in Frank Alexander, a two-way standout at tight end and defensive end at the high school level. Alexander is getting his first taste of the college life right now and is building relationships quickly.
Frank Alexander was recruited at both tight end and defensive end out of Southern University Lab School in Baton Rouge, La., but the 6-foot-5, 246-pound athlete will be playing defensive end for the Sooners for the next four years. We caught Alexander on campus hanging out with a few teammates today and got the scoop on how his first week in Norman has been.
“Things have been going real well so far,” Alexander stated. “Right now we’re just getting some rest and heading over to the mall right now. I’ve got Tyler Stradford, Jontae Bumpus and Sam Proctor in the car with me right now, so we’re just going to go chill for the day. The entire team has been getting along really well so far and we’ve been able to bond a bit already.”
With Head Coach Bob Stoops and defensive coordinator Brent Venables at the helm you can always be certain there will be a lot of creativity on the defensive side of the ball and that is something that Alexander is looking forward to. While he isn’t sure how the staff plans to use him specifically yet, he does have an idea of what they like about him.
“I think I am going to be playing with my hand on the ground most of the time and don’t know if I’ll be playing any linebacker,” Alexander said. “I have not gotten the playbook yet, so we’ve just been working hard to get our bodies right lately. We started working out on Thursday with Coach (Jerry) Schmidt and he has been really cool, but is pushing us at all times really hard to make sure we’re fit. We’ve been doing a lot of medicine ball work, doing a bunch of stadium runs, working the steps and just doing a series of different squats and bench presses at this point. Other then that we do have one class that we all take which is a jazz history class and it’s interesting to see how much some of those musicians influenced the music that most of us listen to.”
Chemistry is vital to any team and the incoming class at Oklahoma seems to be right on top of that important factor. Most of the players have already hit campus and spend a lot of time together and the bonding process has been quick for the majority.
“I’m rooming with Jontae Bumpus and we’ve already known each other for a long time, so we’re real cool with each other,” Alexander explained. “They also have a place for us to all hang out and play games or watch television and what not, so we go down there and watch MTV Jams or play video games.”
“That was really one of the reasons I picked Oklahoma,” Alexander added. “I bonded with some of the other recruits really quickly and it helped me to decide to come here. I grew up using Oklahoma in video games and following them, so I always wanted to play for a coach like Coach (Bob) Stoops and now I have the opportunity to. Right now it is all about getting used to the college life for me and that is going well because Norman isn’t a real fast city where I will have outside distractions to worry about. I can just focus on playing football and doing my work and forget about any outside temptations.”
As a junior and senior, Alexander was a first-team All-District selection on both sides of the ball for the Kittens. He started at tight end and defensive end, and with his size and speed he has the game to play either at the college level.
Alexander Adjusting to the System (http://oklahoma.scout.com/2/650648.html)
By Matt Alkire
Scout.com
Posted Jun 11, 2007
It’s tough to pull a Louisiana player out of Tiger Country, but the Oklahoma coaching staff did just that last season in Frank Alexander, a two-way standout at tight end and defensive end at the high school level. Alexander is getting his first taste of the college life right now and is building relationships quickly.
Frank Alexander was recruited at both tight end and defensive end out of Southern University Lab School in Baton Rouge, La., but the 6-foot-5, 246-pound athlete will be playing defensive end for the Sooners for the next four years. We caught Alexander on campus hanging out with a few teammates today and got the scoop on how his first week in Norman has been.
“Things have been going real well so far,” Alexander stated. “Right now we’re just getting some rest and heading over to the mall right now. I’ve got Tyler Stradford, Jontae Bumpus and Sam Proctor in the car with me right now, so we’re just going to go chill for the day. The entire team has been getting along really well so far and we’ve been able to bond a bit already.”
With Head Coach Bob Stoops and defensive coordinator Brent Venables at the helm you can always be certain there will be a lot of creativity on the defensive side of the ball and that is something that Alexander is looking forward to. While he isn’t sure how the staff plans to use him specifically yet, he does have an idea of what they like about him.
“I think I am going to be playing with my hand on the ground most of the time and don’t know if I’ll be playing any linebacker,” Alexander said. “I have not gotten the playbook yet, so we’ve just been working hard to get our bodies right lately. We started working out on Thursday with Coach (Jerry) Schmidt and he has been really cool, but is pushing us at all times really hard to make sure we’re fit. We’ve been doing a lot of medicine ball work, doing a bunch of stadium runs, working the steps and just doing a series of different squats and bench presses at this point. Other then that we do have one class that we all take which is a jazz history class and it’s interesting to see how much some of those musicians influenced the music that most of us listen to.”
Chemistry is vital to any team and the incoming class at Oklahoma seems to be right on top of that important factor. Most of the players have already hit campus and spend a lot of time together and the bonding process has been quick for the majority.
“I’m rooming with Jontae Bumpus and we’ve already known each other for a long time, so we’re real cool with each other,” Alexander explained. “They also have a place for us to all hang out and play games or watch television and what not, so we go down there and watch MTV Jams or play video games.”
“That was really one of the reasons I picked Oklahoma,” Alexander added. “I bonded with some of the other recruits really quickly and it helped me to decide to come here. I grew up using Oklahoma in video games and following them, so I always wanted to play for a coach like Coach (Bob) Stoops and now I have the opportunity to. Right now it is all about getting used to the college life for me and that is going well because Norman isn’t a real fast city where I will have outside distractions to worry about. I can just focus on playing football and doing my work and forget about any outside temptations.”
As a junior and senior, Alexander was a first-team All-District selection on both sides of the ball for the Kittens. He started at tight end and defensive end, and with his size and speed he has the game to play either at the college level.