Alex Kirk

I've known about Alex Kirk since I came to New Mexico and worked in Farmington for two years. I saw him as a sophomore but haven't seen him since but I know he put on a show in the Class 4A tournament at the Pit. He has big time offers in the bag already but I don't think it ever hurts to go after in state players and the Aggies finally got into the mix. Here is some background followed by a short Q&A with the best in-state 2010 player.

Kirk’s father and high school coach, Alan, said Kirk made unofficial visits to Arizona, UNM, Texas Tech, Colorado and Oklahoma State last fall. He has offers from all of the above except Oklahoma State.

Alan said NMSU made an offer this winter and Chris Pompey made the trip north to watch a Los Alamos game his junior season. The Aggies are one of several schools that have made offers already including WAC rival Utah State, USC, Cal, Oregon State, Arizona State, Tulane, Vandy and Minnesota.

Kirk is 6-10, 225 pounds with a GPA above 3.0. His dad said he is a better shooter than he is with his back to the basket. At the high school level, Kirk averaged 28 points, 14.6 rebounds, seven blocks and 3 assists for his team, which plays in Class 4A in New Mexico.

Kirk plays for Houston Hoops in the summer and he has already played 40 games this summer in tournaments in Virginia, Phoenix, Minneapolis and Houston and Dallas twice. He’s playing in the Nike Memorial Day Classic this weekend in Atlanta. June stops include the Nike Peach Jam Jul 11-15, the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando Jul. 24-27 and the AAU National Championships in Orlando Jul. 27-31. He played with Danny Granger's Southwest Titans last summer and was discovered by Houston at a John Lucas camp in Houston last year.

Have you thought seriously about New Mexico State? When did they start contacting you?
They contacted me midway through my junior season. Tthey are building back up after Theus went to the NBA. Everyone is on my radar right now. I'm open to anyone really at this point.

Any plans to make unofficial to Las Cruces?
I'm pretty busy with school and I have AAU games and tournaments through August so I really don't have time for visits anywhere.

Is there an early favorite as your junior year ends?
I took those visits because there was an opportunity there. They are all really good schools and I enjoyed every single visit.

When are you going to start whittling down the offers?
I have two more weeks of school and then the summer is here where I will have more time to start thinking about it and cut my list down.


Do you have a number in mind you would like to have it broken down to entering your senior year?
I have talked about having a decision made by my senior season, but I am just going to take my time and see how the process works out for me.

What are your strengths?
I feel like I'm a good shot blocker and rebounder. My shot for a big man is pretty good. I can shoot over I lot of people and I think that helps a lot. I can hit from 3-point range on in.

What are you trying to improve on this summer and your senior season?
Just confidence and my conditioning and strength.

How long have you played with Houston Hoops? What is that competition like and how beneficial is it for you?
I started playing with them right after the state tournament. It's been one of the best experiences in my life basketball wise.e Talent is everywhere. Every player there has the opportunity to play Division I and every player we play against will play Division I ball. It benefits me because I don't really have the opportunity to play big men like this in New Mexico. The more games I play, the better I have gotten.



When do you want to make some sort of verbal commitment by?
When I feel like a school is the right fit for me, whenever that happens, I will make a verbal.