Joe Alexander was walking to his locker room Wednesday afternoon when someone dressed in a suit who had been waiting for Alexander to pass by stopped him to have a word.

Guy in a Suit: Did you see the piece last week?
Alexander: I did, I did. It was great. Thanks.
Guy in a Suit: No problem. Hey, great game today. Good luck.
Alexander: Thanks. You too.

Alexander continued on his way and he confessed after a few long strides, “I have no clue who that was.”

Maybe Alexander is growing somewhat overwhelmed by his new fame and can no longer keep track of who’s who and who’s done what. Or maybe he simply couldn’t remember Guy in a Suit. I happen to think it’s the latter because in regard to the former, he really doesn’t care about his status or about involving himself so that he might change it. He plays his game, does the interviews, gets on the bus, heads back to the hotel and prepares for the next day. It’s pretty simple for a kid making everything look simple right now.

Along those lines, I’m pretty sure he still doesn’t know Bill Raftery, which is a shame because Raftery knows Alexander. [”Take it to the tin…with alacrity!”] Having Raftery attach a “Send it in, Joe!” to one of your dunks is quite an honor, yet one Alexander can’t properly enjoy.

A figurative and literal rising star in the Big East, Joe Alexander had never heard of Jerome Lane and was therefore completely unaware the former Pitt star shattered a backboard against Providence Jan. 25, 1988.

“All right,” he said when someone filled in the blanks in his mind. “That’s cool.”

Since WVU’s junior forward knew nothing of that game 20 years ago, it was safe to assume Bill Raftery and his celebrated call of “Send it in, Jerome!” were also foreign.

“Yep. Never heard of that, either,” Alexander said.

Alexander, of course, grew up in Asia and spent parts of eight years in Taiwan, Beijing and Hong Kong. When Lane broke the backboard and Raftery reacted in amazement, Alexander was a month past his first birthday.

“You guys learn all of that from TV,” Alexander said. “That’s part of American culture, but I didn’t grow up in America.”