Alexander Into Hall of Fame

Courtesy of APU

A local standout athlete from the 1950’s, Bill Alexander of Lyons, was recently inducted into the Austin Peay University Hall of Fame in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Alexander, a 1952 graduate of Lyons High School, started his career in college as a walk-on at Georgia Military College in 1952-53 before getting a scholarship and played running back and defensive back. He then went on to star on both sides of the ball for the Governors in football and Track & Field. He is the only athlete in Austin Peay history to earn a Hall of Fame selection for his contributions in both sports. In 1954 and 1956 Alexander was a two-time All-Volunteer State Athletic Conference honoree, named to the 1954 Nashville Banner All- Mid-State College Team.

In 1954 he was named Most Outstanding Player in the Mid-State Charity Bowl and helped lead Austin Peay to back-toback wins in the first two Charity Bowls in 1954 & 1956.

Before the 1955 season he was named team captain. He set the school record back then for the number of single-game rushes with thirty-four in 1955.

In Track & Field he holds the school records in the 100 and 220 -yard dashes when those events were measured in yards.

“I was extremely honored to be one of the five recipients of this award for the 2022 Austin Peay Athletic Hall of Fame, that is the most cherished honor a college athlete can ever hope to receive. My only regret is that my wife of 57 years Joy was not there to share this award with me. I was happy that a lot of my family was there at the ceremony including my younger brother Jimmy, who introduced me at the Hall of Fame. Mom and Dad had four children and Dad said that they raised a backfield, three quarterbacks and me a tailback and all four of us attended Austin Peay. I give a lot of credit to the guy’s up front who opened the holes and did all the blocking to get me into the secondary.” Alexander said.