AUSTIN — It's just in the genes.

Lance Alexander is coaching a basketball team at the state UIL tournament, just like his dad, John, did some 24 years ago.

He's an assistant to Cary Black at Houston's Klein Forest High School. The Golden Eagles (33-3) will be playing Dulles High School (33-4) today at 3:30 p.m. in the Class 5A state semi-finals at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.

Lance Alexander, is a coach's son — now a coach in his own right. He played for his dad at Jacksonville High School, graduating in 1988. Lance's younger brother, Mark, is the head basketball coach at Henderson High School.

In his earlier years, the Alexander was a gym rat who has been around basketball since he was knee-high to the backboard. While still a student at Jacksonville he was known to prepare scouting reports on opposing teams with the clarity and detail of a veteran coach. He was known as "Coach Lance" to many, several years before he ever officially drew a pay check.

Alexander would spent hours shooting in the gym while his dad was washing uniforms.

"I'm just lucky I grew up around my dad, Coach [Robert Loper, now of Frankston High School] and other coaches. I was very fortunate to learn how to coach and do things the right way. The way dad taught is the way I try to coach at Klein Forest — not just basketball, but the right way to treat people," Alexander said.

The coach has been at Klein Forest for seven of the 11 years he has been coaching. Alexander even turned down a head coaching job to stay at the Houston school because of the tremendous potential of the location.

"I know I am at a special place. It's great to live and work here. I knew our basketball team was headed for great things, but actually I thought it would happen last year. We had a 6-8 and 6-10 player and we lost in the playoffs. This year we make it to Austin with our tallest guy a 6-4 point guard, but we made it. Four of the starters will be Division I players, so we have some talent," Alexander said.

The Klein Forest team this year has won games with quickness and 3-pointers. In their last game they made 16 of 31 shots from long distance. The team has not been to the state tournament since 2000.

Alexander continued, "When you are a younger coach, you are naive and you don't realize how rare the opportunities are you have in the playoffs. I've heard that only two percent of the coaches in Texas make it to the state tournament, so I am going to enjoy it."

Alexander said he has been coming to the state tournament with his family since 1978. But to coach a team in Austin is a different situation entirely.

"I have been preaching and telling my team that this is 'just another game' and not to get excited and everything. But I know I will have my heart pumping.

"It's good that I will have my family at the game with me. It means everything to be able to share it with my dad, my brother Mark, and everyone else," Alexander said.

Alexander, the main defensive coach of the team, laughed when he was describing his coaching style and mannerisms, which mirror his dad's courtside demeanor.

"I guess I inherited my dad's mannerisms more than Mark did," Alexander said. "I did not realize it, then I looked at a video and I had my veins sticking out on my neck and my hair looked just like him. I remember how important the games used to be when I was at home in Jacksonville and he was my coach. I am truly lucky that my family shares the connection with basketball. To think of everybody being here in Austin kind of makes me teary-eyed. This is so special to all of us," Lance Alexander said.

John Alexander has been going to state tournament basketball games for more than four decades. He has attended 46 tournaments in all, the last 45 in a row.

The older coach Alexander walked the sidelines as a head basketball coach for 34 years in Texas. His final 17 years were in Jacksonville. Overall, he won more than 600 games. He retired in 1997 from coaching. He now works at Rusk Primary School as a physical education instructor.

"This is the most personal interest I have had in a state tournament game since 1984 when I took a team from Jacksonville," John Alexander said. "I'm so happy for Lance and everybody involved. I know coaching down here (at the state tournament) is a different experience. I really don't have any advice for Lance — you just have to do it. It sure is different coaching here than watching from the stands. Making the state tournament is one of the reasons you get into coaching.

"To be at the state tournament, I remember this — it took a while to sink in. You consider all the teams in the state in your class and just four of them are left playing. Just to make it to Austin is a tremendous achievement. This makes the fourth time I have been to the state tournament for an Alexander either playing or coaching. My brother, Bill, played in 1952, then in 1964 he coached a team that made it, then I brought the Jacksonville Indians in 1984, now this year with Lance. That's a pretty good record."

The John Alexander has been able to follow the Klein Forest team in the playoffs, having watched four of the last five games. His scouting report says the team has a chance at the big trophy.

"They are quick, very quick. They shoot the ball well and they have four very good guards. They can hit 3-pointers and they play very tough defense.

"Win or lose we're behind Lance, just like we root for Mark's teams over at Henderson. It is such a great feeling when one of your children accomplishes something like this. We're proud of what he has done," John Alexander added. "I always hoped I'd get to see this, now I get to. It's pretty exciting. The best part is most of the family will be able to come to enjoy it. We're proud of Lance, no matter what the score is in the game."