CINCINNATI — Purcell Marian junior wing Dee Alexander added yet another statewide award to her storied career Thursday morning.
A day after earning her second straight Ohio Ms. Basketball award, Alexander was named as the Gatorade Ohio High School Girls Basketball Player of the Year Thursday morning.
"It's just a great feeling just to see her getting everything that she deserves," Purcell Marian girls basketball coach Jamar Mosley said.
"One, yes she is a very talented kid, but the hard work that she puts in. I know I've talked to people who have coached some of the better players around the country and they just talk about how their player doesn't put the work on a day-to-day basis," Mosley said "Dee comes in and she's one of the first in every sprint. She wins a lot of drills. So it's just one of those things that she truly does deserve."
The Gatorade award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Alexander as Ohio’s best high school girls basketball player.
"I just try to become a better person and a better player to my teammates every game," Alexander said.
Alexander, a first honors student, is ranked the nation's fourth-best player in the 2025 class by ESPN. She averages 18.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.6 steals. Mosley said Alexander could average 30-plus points but wants to get her teammates involved offensively.
"Being able to coach a generational talent like Dee Alexander has been amazing," Mosley said. "I'm honored and blessed to be able to do so."
While the 6-foot-1 junior wing is considering 15 major college basketball programs, her singular focus this weekend is to help Purcell Marian win its third consecutive state championship.
Purcell Marian (27-1), ranked No. 15 nationally by MaxPreps, will play Copley (25-3) in a Division II state semifinal at 1 p.m. Friday at the University of Dayton Arena. The state final is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena.
On Thursday night, Alexander said she plans to eat her traditional Penn Station Philly cheesesteak like she's had prior to each of her past two trips to the state Final Four. She will also reflect upon the game plan and the instructions from practice.
"I always lock in like 24 hours prior to the game," Alexander said. "So it's just me having a mentality 24 hours before the game even starts."
Mosley said Alexander is a "phenomenal leader" who is a positive example to her teammates. He has no doubt Alexander will continue to grow as a student-athlete with significant potential in the future.
"The work that she puts in she's just going to get better," Mosley said. "I get that other people are going to get better. I don't see many people outworking Dee. So as good of a player as she is now just to think of how good she can be at this time next year, it's really scary."
Alexander joins recent Gatorade Ohio Girls Basketball Players of the Year winners Solè Williams (2022-23, Princeton High School), Chance Gray (2021-22, Winton Woods High School), KK Bransford (2020-21, Mount Notre Dame High School), Madeline Westbeld (2019-20, Kettering Fairmont High School), and Jordan Horston (2018-19, Columbus Africentric Early College High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
