University of Oklahoma Athletics
DeAngelo Alexander Has Successful Surgery
April 01, 2004 | Men's Basketball
University of Oklahoma men's basketball sophomore guard De'Angelo Alexander underwent successful right shoulder surgery in Oklahoma City on Thursday. The two-hour reconstruction procedure, performed by Dr. Brock Schnebel and Dr. Don McGinnis, is expected to sideline Alexander for four to five months.
Alexander, a 6-5, 215-pound Midwest City native, was plagued by shoulder problems for virtually all of the 2003-04 season. He initially dislocated the shoulder during OU's very first practice of the year on Aug. 25 as the team prepared for its Labor Day weekend exhibition trip to Costa Rica. Alexander did not play in Costa Rica and missed much of preseason conditioning and October practice. He aggravated the injury multiple times during the season and sustained another dislocation late in the first half of Oklahoma's second-round NIT game at Michigan on March 22, OU's final contest of the year.
Alexander, who will be in a sling for approximately two weeks, played in all 31 games this past season (started 19) and averaged 9.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per outing while shooting a team-high .374 from three-point territory. He recorded his lone career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds Dec. 29 against Texas-Pan American and netted a career-high 22 points the next game versus Princeton (Jan. 3) in the All-College Classic. He was also named the Sooner Invitational MVP after averaging 17.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in wins over Eastern Washington and Oral Roberts in the season's first two games.
Fellow sophomore Kevin Bookout also underwent right shoulder surgery in early February. That operation was performed by Schnebel and McGinnis as well.
Oklahoma finished with a 20-11 overall record and advanced to postseason play for the 23rd consecutive season (the longest current NCAA Division I streak).
