{"id":8112,"date":"2015-10-08T10:18:46","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T15:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/?p=8112"},"modified":"2015-10-08T10:29:51","modified_gmt":"2015-10-08T15:29:51","slug":"former-nsr-prospect-becomes-youngest-area-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/former-nsr-prospect-becomes-youngest-area-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NSR baseball prospect becomes Area Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

National Scouting Report discovered North Central Louisiana area director Mason Alexander 20 years ago at a baseball showcase in Arlington, Texas.<\/p>\n

\"alexander\"<\/a>
North Central Louisiana area director Mason Alexander hopes to teach prospects an important lesson in life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A standout pitcher\/outfielder at Longview High School, Alexander had been overlooked by college coaches. He had given up hope of playing in college until an NSR scout introduced himself to Alexander\u2019s father, who was offered a full scholarship to play baseball at Sam Houston State.<\/p>\n

Alexander, one of 27 players invited to the showcase, pitched 2 innings that day. One of the batters he faced was Arlington\u2019s Vernon Wells. Yes, that Vernon Wells, the three-time All-Star outfielder with the Toronto Blue Jays.<\/p>\n

After Alexander retired Wells on a groundout and then limited him to a bloop single, the NSR scout asked his dad: \u201cHas your son committed anywhere?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Alexander\u2019s dad responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re kidding me,\u201d the scout said. \u201cHe could be playing D-II or D-III.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI played in every select team from Houston to Dallas,\u201d Alexander recalled. \u201cI thought I was going to get noticed, but that was a big myth. College coaches were already in contact with the top players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly after enrolling with NSR, Alexander started hearing from college coaches on all levels, including Oral Roberts and Abilene Christian. However, he preferred to play at a smaller school because \u201cI wanted to go someplace where I could pitch, hit and play the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander received a handful of offers before deciding to accept a half scholarship to Central Christian College, a private NAIA school in Kansas, which guaranteed him a chance to pitch and play first base.<\/p>\n

However, he never played.<\/p>\n

Due to personal issues, Alexander lost his scholarship as a freshman. He transferred to a junior college for one semester before enrolling at Texas A&M \u2013 as a student only — and graduating with a degree in agricultural development in 2001.<\/p>\n

Alexander, 37, spent the next 10 years working in human resources in the gas and oil industry, following in the footsteps of several family members.<\/p>\n

Alexander moved from Texas to Oklahoma City and finally to North Central Louisiana with his girlfriend, Deanna, whom he married five months ago. With his temporary consulting job coming to an end, he responded to an ad from a company he knew well, NSR, which was seeking area scouts.<\/p>\n

Shortly thereafter, Alexander became one of the company’s youngest area directors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love baseball,\u201d he said. \u201cI love being around kids. I love helping kids. Any way I can help a kid reach his dream, that\u2019s what I want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander also likes to educate kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to tell my story and what happened to me in college,\u201d he said. \u201cI want kids to understand how quickly your dream can be taken away if you don\u2019t have your priorities in line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander was one of the first former NSR prospects to return as a scout. NSR is now offering the same opportunity to all current and future prospects. Upon completion of play and graduation from a four-year institution, NSR prospects are guaranteed employment as company scouts or recruiting coordinators.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s what a kid wants to do [after graduation], I think it\u2019s a great opportunity,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cHaving gone through NSR myself, I knew what the job entailed and I know what the results can be. I hope others follow my lead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

National Scouting Report discovered North Central Louisiana area director Mason Alexander 20 years ago at a baseball showcase in Arlington, Texas. A standout pitcher\/outfielder at Longview High School, Alexander had been overlooked by college coaches. He had given up hope of playing in college until an NSR scout introduced himself to Alexander\u2019s father, who was … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[31,56,263,262,222],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8112"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8116,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112\/revisions\/8116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}