MORGANTOWN — There aren’t many players quite like Morgantown’s Alec Poland. He shoots the deep ball with acute accuracy, he’s relentless in the paint, he makes his free throws, and he’s the inspirational leader of the top team in the state. He’s also smart in the classroom and an avid fisherman in his free time.
Plus, he wears No. 0. Not many other players can say that.
“I don’t see many other 0s,” Poland said. “If we do, it’s usually double-zero.”
Poland admits he doesn’t wear No. 0 for any particular reason. He has also worn No. 20, No. 34 and No. 55 in his basketball career, but he has been certain in his preparation for this senior campaign.
After averaging 12 points per game last year, as the Mohigans fell in the state championship game, Poland reinvented himself in the off-season to become a better all-around player.
“Really, last year I was mostly a shooter, but this year and this off-season, one thing I worked on was finishing and just being strong with the ball inside,” Poland said. “Personally, the most-important part of my game is just doing whatever it takes to help my team win. I want to do whatever my guys need me to do to help us win.”
At 6-foot-2, he’s always been one of the biggest guys in his class. Before working on his confidence with his inside game, Poland had to hit the gym and bulk up so he could strongly go up against the other sizable players in the paint.
Now, he can squat 395 pounds and bench-press 255. He said he has always focused on being in the best shape he can be for his last season of prep hoops.
It’s a season that could be one of the most memorable since the undefeated state championship run in 2016. Morgantown is ranked No. 1 in Class AAAA and knocked off the No. 2 team Parkersburg South by a commanding 85-54 margin on Feb. 1. Poland led all scorers in that game with 25, his highest point total of the season.
The Mohigans are coming off a tough loss to Dover (Ohio) last Saturday in the OVAC championship and are now 13-4 on the year, with only a handful of regular-season games remaining.
In three of their four losses, the Mohigans only lost by a combined six points. In the Carolina Rise Winter Jam tournament, MHS faced highly touted Winston-Salem Christian, undefeated and top-ranked York Prep out of South Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia’s No. 1 team — the Steward School — featuring four Division I recruits.
While hard to take three consecutive losses at the end of December, Poland says the defeats only made the Mohigans stronger as they head into the stretch run.
“December was a tough month on the schedule for us,” Poland said. “We just wanted to be our best every game, knowing that these teams were going to be some of the toughest teams we’d play all year.”
While MHS lost in the OVAC title game, Poland said their goal for the rest of the season remains the same.
“The main goal is to obviously win a state championship,” he said. “But first we want to win the sectional title, and after the sectional title, the regional title, to get back to the state championship game.”
The one-point loss to George Washington in the final game last season still lingers in the back of Poland’s mind.
“To lose like that was tough,” Poland said. “We want to get back there and handle business.”
He’s been handling his business by averaging 17 points per game this season, on top of five rebounds per game. Head coach Dave Tallman notes that Poland is shooting 49% from behind the arc and 85% from the foul line.
“There’s a diamond in the rough in Morgantown,” Tallman wants college coaches to know. “(He’s a) high character, hard-working leader.”
Poland says he’d like to play basketball at the next level if the right opportunity comes along. He sports a 3.9 GPA and wants to pursue a career in dentistry.
By MATTHEW PEASLEE
TWEET @DominionPostWV
