Waxahachie HS HC Todd Alexander: Demani excels at the mental game

Key notes from Todd Alexander interview

• We've been working out with our summer workouts since June 8. We started school yesterday. Actually, things are going really, really smoothly right now.
   
• I could talk for several hours about Demani's character and work ethic. Those make him special. I only got to coach Demani for a short time, but I got to see him as a junior high and freshman kid. You can see his tools and the gifts, but he's got the work ethic on top of it. He doesn't waste any of those tools.
   
• Another part of Demani is that he's a student of the game. He's a brilliant young man. He will not make a mental error, and he will always be in the right spot at the right time. Playing on the back end, you can't make those errors, and he knows that.
   
• His senior year, he was the leader of that football team. When we lost him for the year, it was a big blow. He did whatever we asked him to do, including playing on the offensive side. Demani was on the field and did whatever it took. It hurt us when he went down.
   
• In the 7th grade, I watched him on the field. His field presence was nothing like a typical 7th grader. The way he carried himself was different. You could tell he had tools that not many other kids his age - if any - possessed.
   
• I knew early during his freshman year that he was going to be a special player. His character and work ethic were just different. You cannot outwork Demani. He can go out, have an outstanding game, and come home with all kinds of accolades. It would never go to his head. He would always raise his own bar, both for himself and his classmates. Demani is the type of guy you want on your team because he is the example that everyone else is looking for.
   
• I can't even give you a weakness in his game right now. I can't identify anything. Nothing stands out, even going back to his high school days.
   
• Demani bursting onto the scene didn't surprise me one bit. We talk about him in our locker room to this day, and we will continue talking about him going forward. He is that example for the kids in here with the same dreams. It shows that it can happen. He was a great track athlete and a great basketball player. He excelled at everything.
   
• I love the fact that Jimbo Fisher recruits heavily in Texas. From what I've heard and what I've seen, he's doing outstanding things for the Texas A&M program.