April 8, 2025
Apopka High Graduate Sam Alexis Wins NCAA National Basketball Championship with UF
By Kyle Coppola
Apopka High Graduate Sam Alexis Wins NCAA National Basketball Championship with UF
APOPKA, FL — From Apopka High School to the top of college basketball.
Sam Alexis, a proud graduate of Apopka High School is officially an NCAA National Champion. Sam was part of the University of Florida basketball team that capped off an incredible season with a 65-63 win against Houston last night.
Alexis, who began his collegiate career at Chattanooga before transferring to Florida in 2024. Sam played in 24 games this season for the Gators and had 112 points along with 83 rebounds and 15 blocks and 9 assists. While he may not have played in the National Championship game, Sam was a huge contributing factor behind the scenes. Sam has always been one of the hardest working players in practice and he put the work in for the starters to prepare for Houston and the rest of the teams Florida faced this post season.
(Sam lets out a celebratory yell after the Gators clinched the NCAA National Championship against Houston – Photo Credit – UF.)
Sam made note that his role on the team changed when Micah Handlogten rejoined the team. But despite that, Sam encouraged Micah from the bench and his work this season was rewarded with a National Championship.
Before becoming a collegiate standout, Alexis starred at Apopka High School, where he was a force on both ends of the court. As a senior during the 2021-22 season, he averaged 13.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game, earning first-team All-Metro Conference and second-team All-Central Florida honors. He also shot a 66.8 percent from the field and posted 11 double-doubles, including career highs of 26 points, 15 rebounds, and four blocks in separate games. His performance helped lead the Blue Darters to a 19-9 record and a Class 8A All-State nomination.
After two productive seasons at Chattanooga, where he totaled 516 points and 422 rebounds, Alexis transferred to Florida with high expectations. He quickly proved himself in Gainesville, bringing toughness and defensive tenacity to a Gators squad that rallied down the stretch to make a title run. Sam’s best game came earlier this year where he scored 14 points against North Florida. At the beginning of the year Sam was also averaging about 10 points per game through the first 5 games of the season.
We are very proud of Sam Alexis on this accomplishment! Congratulations on a fantastic season as well as the rest of the players from the University of Florida. This is a huge accomplishment! Way to go!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
