From Star Basketball Player to Head Coach: Welcome Back Bacari Alexander!
Bacari Alexander played two seasons at the University of Detroit Mercy and graduated from the university in 1999.
Varsity News March 18, 1998
He went on to play with the Harlem Globetrotters for a couple of years and then moved to assistant coaching at University of Detroit Mercy, Ohio, Western Michigan University and University of Michigan. He was named Head Coach at the University of Detroit Mercy in April 2016.
He is not the first person who played on the university basketball team to return later to become the head coach of the team.
Robert Calihan was All-American at the University of Detroit in 1939-1940, and led the Titans in scoring for three seasons. After graduation in 1940, he played with the Chicago Gears and was a regular with the Detroit Eagles and helped win the National Basketball League title in 1941. He returned to the university as head coach of the basketball team in 1948 and remained in that position for the next 21 years. As a coach, he accumulated 303 victories and four post-season tournament bids, while turning out some of the most talented players in the country like Dave Debusschere and Spencer Haywood. After his tenure as coach, he became the Athletic Director for the University of Detroit. In his honor, the Memorial Building was renamed Calihan Hall in 1977.
