BIOGRAPHY
Alex Len was born on June 16, 1993, in Antratsyt, Luhansk, Ukraine. He is a center for the Washington Wizards in the NBA.
Growing up, he participated in gymnastics and liked watching Jackie Chan films. As a young gymnast, Len was trained by Oleksiy Stepanenko, who had also trained Olympic gold medalist Ihor Korobchynskyi. Alex was thirteen years-old when he started playing basketball and later attended Dnipropetrovsk Higher College in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
Alex played for the Ukraine national team at the 2009 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship and the 2010 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where during the 2010 tournament, he was the fourth best overall scorer, second best rebounder, and the best shot blocker. Following the tournament, Len joined BC Dnipro of the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague for the 2010–11 season.
Alex was the recipient of an athletic scholarship from the University of Maryland coach Gary Williams, but Williams resigned after the 2010-11 season. Mark Turgeon was hired to take his place. While Williams began recruiting Len, it was Turgeon who eventually lured him to Maryland. During his freshman campaign, Len averaged 6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game.
Len opened his sophomore season on November 9, 2012, against the reigning champion Kentucky Wildcats, led by ESPN's #1 player of the 2012 recruiting class, Nerlens Noel. Len overpowered Noel throughout the entire game, scoring 23 points with 12 rebounds and 4 blocks, while holding Noel to 4 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Following the game, there was talk that Len could potentially be a top 5 pick in the upcoming draft.
On January 16, 2013, Len ended up scoring 10 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, including a game-winning shot with 0.9 seconds in the game, to get a 51-50 upset over #14 North Carolina State. On February 16, 2013, Len again played a starring role, leading Maryland to an 83-81 upset victory over the top ranked Duke Blue Devils. Len put up 19 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks, while holding Duke star senior Mason Plumlee to 4 points. He went on to average 11.9 points per game in 38 total games that season.
On April 14, 2013, Len decided to declare for the 2013 NBA draft.
