Early Career
Alexander was born and raised in Florence, Kentucky. His father, Curtis Alexander Jr., works for Morton Salt and his mother Carol works in the truancy department of the Boone County School District. He has an older brother Durran, and four older half-sisters and three older half-brothers. His parents divorced when he was 11, and he and Durran were raised by their mother in a two-bedroom apartment in a government housing project.
He attended Florence Elementary School. In 1991, he entered Boone County High School. As a freshman, he played football for the junior varsity team and was voted Class President—as he was every year in high school. As well as football, Alexander excelled in basketball and baseball.
In his sophomore season, he made the varsity team as the second-string running back. By mid-season, he was the team's featured running back as he rushed for 1,095 yards and fourteen touchdowns. During his junior season in 1994, Alexander ran for 2,396 yards and 42 touchdowns as Boone County made it to the state semifinals. In a game versus Campbell County, Alexander rushed for seven touchdowns. He was listed in "Faces in the Crowd" section of Sports Illustrated in January 1994.
In 1995, in his senior season, Alexander rushed for 3,166 yards and a state record 54 touchdowns and was named Kentucky's "Mr. Football". He also was selected All-American by Parade and USA Today's 1994 All USA team, named "Old Spice Athlete of the Month" by Sports Illustrated, and was known as "Alexander the Great" and had his high school number 37 retired a few weeks before his graduation. In three varsity seasons, Alexander rushed for 6,657 yards and 110 touchdowns—both of which are Top 10 prep all-time records.
Read more about this topic: Shaun Alexander
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