Osceola opens hoops season with 58-48 victory over Harmony after honoring two-time state champ Coach Alexander
Harmony forward Kalani Stoutt goes up for two of his 14 points Tuesday as Osceola's Kaiden Zenkner (5) and Luke McCrimon (1) defend. The Kowboys won the season-opening showdown, 58-48. (Photo/Taylor McFee)
At the start of a sports season, you’re rarely looking backward.
But, at Osceola High School’s gym Tuesday, on the night of the opening basketball game of the 2025-26 season, the Kowboys’ turned back the clock and honored a coach who helped author of the program’s greatest past success.
Nate Alexander, who coached OHS to FHSAA Class 9A state championships in 2017 and 2019, was honored with the renaming of its gym surface — Coach Nate Alexander Court. He, along with his wife Julie and children Ivy, 7, Davis, 4 and Elle, 2, and dozens of former players and assistant coaches during his Kowboy time, turned out for a pre-game ceremony before the opener against local rival Harmony.
“I’m taken aback by it,” said the normally reserved Alexander. “I just came into this group. (Former OHS head hoops coach) Larry Brown was my first guy. And before that were guys like Ed Kershner (who coached OHS to a 37-0 record and a 1983 state title). We had his name on our shorts when we won in 2017 and 2019. I’m sure he’s looking down on us … and wondering what’s going on.”
Steve Mason, current Kowboys coach and a treasure trove of Osceola history knowledge, elaborated on “what’s going on.” He said this is something he’d wanted to do to credit the only coach to lead the school to multiple state championships.
“Coach Nate is the most successful team sport coach in Osceola County history, with the most state titles. The most district titles,” Mason said. “Besides his impact on the school, athletically, he was a special needs teacher as well, a very beloved P.E. teacher as well, and sent many players to college, and many are now playing pro(fessionally) overseas. This is a tribute to just what an impact he's had on the Osceola High School academic and athletic community.”
It’s an impact that almost didn’t happen. Alexander came to Florida from Ohio in 2008 to get into teaching, and once established as a teacher he got the urge to coach. He said his plan was to coach football, but he couldn’t find a place on the staff of the gridiron program that was rolling (the Kowboys made it to the Class 5A state title game in 2007). Mason, then in his second stint coaching the basketball team and always looking for help, brought him on as an assistant. Alexander coached with Mason, and Brown and a number of other assistants who went on to become head coaches at other places, like Duke Leonardo at Harmony, before Mason chose to focus on family and administration before the school turned the reigns over to Alexander in 2014.
The Kowboys made the playoffs all seven years Nate coached, winning six district titles, four Orange Belt Conference titles and made the Final Four state tournament three times. Including winning the two state titles, Osceola made it to the 2015 championship game, beating Kershner and Oviedo High in the semifinals in the process before falling to Pompano Beach Ely.
“He took me under his wing,” Alexander said of Kershner, who passed away in 2021. “He was one of the people behind our success. There’s so many people to credit, to thank. So many players, so many great people who helped us along the way. That’s why, when Steve (Mason) told me about this, I tried to talk him out of it.”
Coach Nate — “I still turn around when someone says, ‘Hey Coach!’” — hung up his whistle after the 2020 season to spend more time with his young family and start a lucrative career in real estate. He compiled a 155-46 record — over 22 wins per season — that included 28 wins in the postseason.
“I’m only 43, I thought you had to be long gone, or retired, or dead, for them to do something like this,” he said. “You try to leave a legacy, and I’m truly honored.”
But then, the whistle blew, Mason went from event emcee to fiery coach, and there was a game to win Tuesday, which the Kowboys took, 58-48. Osceola, a regional finalist a year ago, ran out to a 12-0 lead on Harmony, a revived team in the last two seasons but forced to rebuild due to graduation, and never gave up the lead. It swelled to 33-18 at halftime, but the scrappy Longhorns behind the shooting of Kalani Stroutt, Harmony’s high scorer with 14 off the bench, and Quaniel Reyes (13) cut the lead to six late in the third quarter.
But behind the scoring of Luke McCrimon (game-high 17) and Ryan Rodriguez (13), and a lift from freshman Jeremiah Reed who scored all 10 of his bench points in the second half, the Kowboys pulled away to start the year with a win.
“I knew before the season we had talent, it’s just a matter of how long it’ll take to build the chemistry of a winning team,” Mason said afterward. “I could tell the kids were not satisfied with how they played, and that’s good to see.”
The Kowboys play home again on Thursday against Davenport before heading to St. Cloud on Friday. The Longhorns have home games Thursday and Friday against City of Life and Palm Bay.
