One of the many players that Head Coach Dom Rosselli was able to lure away from the "Rubber City," arch-rival Akron's home turf, Bruce Alexander played for the Penguins from 1978-79 to 1982-83, teaming with Dave Zeigler to give the Penguins arguably the best one-two scoring punch in recent hoop seasons.
A graduate of North High School, Alexander was not a flashy player on the court, but a player who flashed his credentials on the court without even being aware of how good he actually was
"He was one of the most complete players that I have ever coached," Rosselli once stated about Alexander. "He was an unselfish player who made his teammates step up their play a notch when he was in the game."
The Penguins posted a 66-66 overall mark during Bruce's days on the team, and he needed a redshirt season in 1981-82 when an abdominal strain would not allow him to play at 100 percent, but when the horn had sounded on his stellar cage career, he had scored 1,480 points which still places him 10th on the all-time scoring list today.
As a freshman, the team posted a 13-13 overall mark, their first season of competition in the original Mid-Continent Conference. The team was 4-6 in conference play and he scored 388 points, his second highest season total as a collegian.
He followed that up with a sophomore season that produced 364 markers, the team going 17-10 after going 15-2 out of the gate. A disappointing 2-6 conference ledgerwas the low point of the season with injuries playing a major reason in the team's 2-8 finish.
His junior campaign was a season that he became the "go-to" player on the court He became the captain of the offense as Dave Zeigler, the player that he had combined the first two seasons of his collegiate career to score 2,040 of the team's 3,764 points (or 54.2 percent) had transferred to Kent State University. He scored 405 points that season, but the team was 13-13, yet finished in a tie for second place in the Mid-Continent Conference with a 3-3 conference slate.
His senior season was one that he'd like to forget. An abdominal strain prevented him playing at full strength and a redshirt season was his medicine. It was especially disappointing in that the Penguins had left the Mid-Continent Conference and joined the Ohio Valley Conference, and he was unable to be a part of the transition. The team finished 8-18 overall and 5-11 in O.V.C. play.
The following year, as a fifth-year senior, he helped the Penguins to a 15-12 overall mark, scoring 253 points while closing out his career with 1,480 career points, and became just the 18th (today there are 24 in the 1,000+) player in YSU cage history to hit the magical scoring plateau.
