page_title: Bacari Alexander
section_title: Assistant at Michigan
hierarchical_section_title: Bacari Alexander / Coaching career / Assistant at Michigan
caption_attribution_description: English: 2012–13 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team on January 3, 2013 at w:Welsh-Ryan Arena for their w:2012–13 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season opener
context_page_description: Bacari Torrell Alexander is an American college basketball coach, formerly the men's basketball head coach at Detroit Mercy. He is a former assistant coach at Michigan, Western Michigan, Ohio, and Detroit Mercy. At Michigan, Alexander was responsible for coaching the team's post players, developing defensive strategies, scouting opponents and on-court coaching. In six seasons as an assistant coach under Michigan head coach John Beilein, Michigan advanced to the NCAA Tournament each year, won Big Ten Conference regular season championships in 2012 and 2014 and appeared in the Elite 8 in 2014 and the National Championship in 2013.
context_section_description: In April 2010, Alexander was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan.  At the time, Alexander told reporters, "You know, in short, it's a dream job. I can't put it any better than that. If you grow up in the state of Michigan ... the University of Michigan is a global entity. To be fortunate enough to get this opportunity is a blessing."
  At Michigan, Alexander has been responsible for coaching the team's post players, developing defensive strategies, scouting opponents and on-court coaching.  In Alexander's four seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan, the Wolverines have advanced each year to the NCAA tournament, won a Big Ten Conference regular season championship in 2012 and 2014, and advanced to the Final Four as the National Finalist in 2013 and Elite 8 2014.
  Alexander's creative and inspiring pregame speeches, often involving props, were credited with keeping the team loose and ready to compete.  Before a game against Michigan State, Alexander wore a construction hat and safety goggles while urging the group to "go to work". Before the team's Sweet Sixteen game against Kansas, he placed a picture of a Jayhawk (Kansas' mascot) in a birdcage and told the team "The JayHawk needed to be caged".  Before Michigan's Elite Eight victory over Florida, Alexander sent one of the team's student managers, James Peretzman, to purchase a can of Pringles potato chips and then placed a Pringle on the shoulder of each Michigan starter and inspired the team to "play with a chip on its shoulder". On April 6, 2013, Alexander was profiled in The New York Times as "a showman often ranked among college basketball's most fashionable assistants" and "a recruiter who can regale elite young players with tales from his two seasons with the Globetrotters."
caption: Alexander (2nd from left) with the national runner-up 2012–13 Michigan Wolverines
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