K-State Basketball Coach Casey Alexander Shares Unexpected Sports Passion

Basketball has been a huge part of new K-State coach Casey Alexander's life. He played the sport growing up and eventually played college basketball at Belmont. Then, in 1995, he began his coaching career at Belmont, where he served as an assistant until 2011. Since then, he has been a head coach at Stetson, Lipscomb, and, most recently, Belmont until taking over the coaching position at K-State in March. With that type of resume, it might be easy to think that basketball has been his favorite sport.

However, that isn't the case, even though he has made basketball his career. During an appearance on the 3Maw podcast with John Kurtz, Alexander said it was baseball, not basketball that he would say is his favorite sport.

"I will always claim to be a bigger baseball fan than any other sport, even though this is my occupation, I love baseball," Alexander said. "I have seen two Major League games already this year. I watch a lot of games on TV."

Chicago Cubs helped make Alexander become a baseball fan

Growing up in Tennessee, there wasn't a local MLB team that Alexander had to cheer for. During that time, one of the most famous sports broadcasters was Harry Caray, who was the Chicago Cubs play-by-play announcer at WGN from 1982 to 1997. He is widely credited with making the singing of 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' popular during the seventh inning stretch.

While Caray got credit for making that a baseball tradition, Alexander said the announcer was also a big reason why he became a Cubs fan.

"In my generation, that is how most of us became Cubs fans," Alexander said. "I am home all summer long, and it is Harry Caray and Steve Stone on at 1:20 every day of the week. Then, when you start going to home games at Wrigley Field when you are already a fan, it is pretty hard not to be hooked, lined, and sinkered into that scenario. I will also say to protect myself, 1A, the Kansas City Royals of course."

Looking for a chance at some redemption with a potential first pitch at Kaufman Stadium

While he hasn't been to Kaufman yet, Alexander is ready to get out there and catch a Royals game. After being announced as the head coach at K-State, Alexander was given an opportunity to throw out the first pitch in a game between K-State and Arizona State. According to the coach, it didn't go well, and he is ready to get out there and deliver a strike the next time he gets the ball.

For Alexander, what better opportunity to do just that than at K-State day at Kaufman Stadium on July 17, when the Royals host the San Diego Padres.

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