Ken Alessi
Ken Alessi (Yorkville High School) was a 5-7, 155-pound basketball guard from 1947-49. He still holds two all-time OVAC scoring records - 1,142 points in 32 games as a senior and a career per-game point average of 31.0 for 66 games.
He was the first OVAC player to score 2,000 career points (2,047) after averaging a then-record 35.7 points a game and setting a mark of 70 points, including 31 goals, against Shadyside as a 1948-49 senior. That effort prompted the national exposure in 'Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not.'
He also scored 65 points vs. Adena and 55 points vs. Dillonvale in back-to-back games. In one game, he converted 16 straight free throws As a junior, Alessi scored 845 points in 30 games.
A two-time All-OVAC Class A and All-Ohio Class B honoree, he was the leading vote-getter in ’49 when he was selected Ohio’s Class B Player of the Year.
A three-sport prep standout, he was an All-Eastern Ohio football player as a two-way back and kicker, and he was a shortstop-pitcher in baseball.
Recruited by West Virginia University, he played three seasons (1950-52) and was the starting point guard two years. He led the team in assists as a sophomore while playing with 6-9 All-America Mark Workman.
In 1951, he scored 23 points in a home win over Wake Forest and tallied 18 in a 77-73 loss at Duke, which featured All-America guard Dick Groat, a future Pittsburgh Pirate infielder.
Alessi served as head basketball coach the final 12 seasons (1961-72) for alma mater Yorkville High before consolidation. His best team went 18-3 in 1962 and his 1970 team won an OVAC Class A crown. The ’70 team featured Chuck Saus, who would surpass Alessi's career point total.
