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Born and raised for Husky stardom
Alex Carlson's presence has been a constant with the SCSU men's basketball team's success for over two decades now.
Of course, the Litchfield native has been an integral part of the Huskies' success over the last four years, that lead to a 71-17 record and the first NCC championship since 1988 last season, but Carlson's roots dig way deeper than that.
If one looked back far enough, they may remember a five-year-old boy sitting on the bench in Halenbeck Hall when the Huskies hit arguably their most successful stretch in team history when they won three straight NCC titles from 1985-88. John Carlson, who was one of two assistant coaches for SCSU under Lloyd "Butch" Raymond at the time, brought his son Alex to numerous team practices and events. The other assistant and recruiting coordinator was a man named Kevin Schlagel.
Carlson and Schlagel began their long-lasting friendship while playing together for SCSU in a 1975-76 season when they helped the Huskies bring home a Northern Intercollegiate Conference title.
John ended up marrying his Litchfield High School sweetheart Jo, who also played basketball for SCSU. Jo gave birth to Alex in 1981, and at the time, Schlagel was living in John and Jo's basement.
It was nearly impossible for Alex to avoid Husky basketball, even if he tried.
"I used to sit on the bench and travel with them to go on scouting trips and everything," Alex said. "I looked up to guys like Barry Wohler, Kevin Catron and Reggie Perkins.
"I suppose you could call me St. Cloud bred."
All in the family
Although they remained good friends, John Carlson and Schlagel went their separate ways professionally in 1986. John became head coach at his alma mater Litchfield High School, while Schlagel took over as head coach of SCSU only two years later, where he currently holds a 121-51 record.
Alex and his younger brother John Jr. were coached by their father in football, basketball and tennis at Litchfield for five years.
Although he only plays basketball for the Huskies, Alex still can't really decide on his favorite sport.
"I was friends with a lot of three-sport athletes so looking back on high school, whatever season we were in was the favorite at the time," he said.
Although John Sr. and his sons didn't have much time away from each other, Alex enjoyed his father's guidance.
"It was great because my dad and I get along really well," Carlson said. "By the time I was a sophomore, junior and senior, we thought pretty much on the same page, so it made things really nice for us because I was used to the way he coached and I knew what he expected so it was really fun."
Both of the Carlson boys' prep athletic resumes were among the best in the state, quickly attracting attention from colleges across the nation.
Schlagel, who remained good friends with the Carlson family over the years, kept a close eye on the boys.
"I've watched them grow since they've been little babies to where they are today," Schlagel said. "From tennis to basketball to football, I've followed their careers."
In basketball, Alex led his team to a state championship in 2000 and was named state AA Player of the Year while also being honored as a top five Mr. Basketball finalist.
Alex was also a 2000 state doubles champion in tennis, and was West Central Conference MVP as a quarterback for the football team.
Although Division I offers were presented to the prep star for both football and basketball, Carlson decided to follow in the footsteps of his parents to be a Husky.
Schlagel, who was in his fourth year as head coach of the Huskies, welcomed Alex with open arms in 2000.
The Huskies almost won a recruiting battle to get John Carlson Jr., Schlagel's godson, in 2002, but he decided to play football at Notre Dame.
However, SCSU apparently came in a close second ahead of Stanford and the U of M according to Alex, who still keeps in contact with his brother over the phone in addition to working out with him over the summer.
"I really think this was his second choice because he could have played basketball and football here and he liked the coaching staff so much," Alex said. "If Notre Dame hadn't been recruiting him, it would have been a pretty easy choice for him to come here."
With the two boys playing in NCAA athletics in different states, and their sister Jackie playing softball, tennis and basketball as a junior at Litchfield, John Sr. and Jo have a hectic schedule.
"He and my mom are so busy because they're always traveling around to their kids' athletic events," Carlson said. "This year, between my dad and mom, they'll still see about 20 of our 25 regular season games."
A warm homecoming
Carlson played his first unofficial home game in the Minnesota High School All-Star game that was played in Halenbeck Hall in 2000.
Alex found himself stacked up against high-flying Minneapolis Henry stars Tony Travis (Little Rock Ark.) and Jonnie Gilbert (Okla.) in the slam dunk contest.
The six-foot-two Litchfield guard ended up winning the contest in front of his new home crowd when he used a chair as a prop to leap from.
"Looking at it, you kind of had to laugh because what am I going to do," Carlson said. "I can't jump as high as those guys. I think the only reason I won is because those guys missed their dunks. That's alright, I'll take it."
Litchfield won a 2A championship that season and had many coaches across the state believing that they could beat some of the best 3A and 4A schools.
The Dragons ended up beating 4A champion Tartan early in the season, but lost to the 3A champion Mpls. Henry in a summer tournament.
"We could've played with them," Carlson said. "Am I going to say we were better than them, no. It would've been fun to play those teams like everyone wanted and have an outright state championship though. There were a lot of good teams in the state that year."
A big reason Carlson fit in so well as a Husky was because of the similarities between the Litchfield and SCSU programs. It wasn't a coincidence.
Schlagel and Carlson Sr. kept the same type of fundamental-based coaching styles that they had as assistants together at SCSU under Raymond in the '80s.
"They run a lot of the same things that we do and our philosophies are very similar," Schlagel said. "(John Sr.) and I exchange ideas an awful lot. We try very hard to work on fundamentals and execution. I think so many times teams beat themselves and we try not to do that. We try and play the game the way it's supposed to be played and not make mistakes, and I think both the Litchfield Dragons and SCSU operate on the same principles."
Another big reason Alex chose SCSU was due to the presence of former high school rivals Jason Kron (ROCORI) and Forrest Witt (Morris) who both graduated last season.
"Those were two guys that he was familiar with in high school, and that he really admired for not only the way they played, but the type of people they were," Schlagel said. "When he got here as a freshman, we matched him up with Forrest an awful lot because Forrest was a very special player. I think Alex had to make an adjustment to playing against a player of that caliber right away, and it made him a better basketball player."
His first year, Carlson stepped in and started 22 games and averaged nine points and five assists a game as the Huskies' point guard. He's boosted his scoring average nearly two points since then and was an All-NCC Honorable Mention pick, along with also getting Wells Fargo All-Tournament Honors last season.
Natural born leader
Nearly twenty years later, the five- year-old that once roamed the benches at Halenbeck Hall has grown up to become one of the greatest leaders to ever don a Husky jersey.
"Alex is one of the toughest competitors I've ever been around," Schlagel said. "The kid is a winner from the word 'go.' He just refuses to lose and he gives you everything he has. I continue to see his development as a total person and a total player with each game he plays."
Schlagel even put Carlson's name right up there with Wohler's as the best leaders he's ever coached.
"When they step on the floor they make everybody better players," he said.
This season, Carlson will have to carry an even bigger load since he and junior guard Nate Miller are the only returning starters.
Schlagel tried using Carlson as a shooting guard, and let Miller take over the point when practice first started, but things didn't pan out.
"In most cases it doesn't matter who runs the point, but we just like the way he leads the team and the way Nate moves off the ball," Schlagel said. "I believe very strongly that the key to college basketball is the perimeter play. We've been very fortunate to have really good perimeter players over the years."
It was only a matter of time and destiny before Alex Carlson was remembered as one of the best.
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