MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – One of the most heavily recruited high school football players in state history has died. According to West Virginia Metro News, Robert Alexander passed away Tuesday night at his residence in St. Albans.
 
In January 1977, the No. 1 crisis in West Virginia wasn't the Energy Crisis, but rather the Robert Alexander Crisis. That's because the South Charleston High product was considered the No. 1-rated running back in the country and his college destination was still to be determined.
 
He possessed more than 200 scholarship offers and his recruitment spanned coast to coast. Ed Pastilong, who was WVU coach Frank Cignetti's recruiting coordinator at the time, recalled some tense meetings at old Mountaineer Field discussing Alexander's recruitment.
 
"I can remember sitting in our little meeting room at old Mountaineer Field, shoulder-to-shoulder, talking about the importance of signing Robert," he remembered.
 
In fact, Alexander was such a priority to Cignetti that he made the 6-foot-2, 185-pound running back assistant coach Garrett Ford's only recruiting assignment in 1976.
 
It was basically all or nothing for Ford.
 
Years later, Ford recalled renting an apartment in Charleston and spending the better part of nine months living there while pursuing Alexander. He would go down to Charleston early in the week during the season to be seen by Robert, watch Robert's high school games on Friday night and then return to Morgantown before West Virginia's Saturday afternoon games.
 
Back then, NCAA rules permitted him to do so.
 
When Alexander showed up at Pitt Stadium for West Virginia's game against the No. 1-ranked Panthers in November, standing on Pitt's sideline in a brown fur coat, Ford said he nearly fainted at the sight of his meal ticket being surrounded by a bunch of blue-and-gold, beanie-wearing Golden Panthers with what appeared to be bulging bags of something sticking out of their pockets.
 
To Ford, it looked like something straight out of the "Godfather" movie.
 
"There's sure a place in our program for him," Pitt coach Johnny Majors said at the time.
 
Penn State coach Joe Paterno called Alexander the best running back "East of the Mississippi." State sportswriters took to calling him "Alexander the Great."
 
Robert rushed for 2,177 yards and scored 34 touchdowns during his senior season at South Charleston High, playing for former Mountaineer player Homer Criddle. Alexander gained 5,872 yards and scored 92 touchdowns for his prep career, both state records at the time.
 
"We had to get Robert Alexander for our football program, but it was also important for the state," Pastilong recalled.

In fact, Alexander was so popular that even Gov. Jay Rockefeller got involved in his recruitment. The State Legislature, as it did with Rod Thorn's recruitment in basketball in 1960, issued a proclamation declaring Alexander a "state natural resource."
 
Former Wheeling Intelligencer sports editor Doug Huff, who also served on the Street & Smith Magazine high school advisory board selecting its prep All-America teams, considers Alexander among the most heavily recruited football players in the state's history.
 
Others he mentioned were DuPont's Randy Moss and Pineville's Curt Warner, adding that East Bank running back Claude Geiger could also be included in the discussion. Warner (Penn State), Moss (Florida State) and Geiger (Michigan State) signed elsewhere, although Moss and Geiger finished their careers at Marshall.
 
Alexander was the only one of those four to sign with WVU, and his commitment was a huge deal in the state. He signed his grant-in-aid at the Capitol complex in Charleston.
 
Alexander's top choices were Penn State, Maryland, USC and Pitt when he notified Charleston Daily Mail high school writer Chuck Landon of his decision to attend WVU.
 
"I used to get calls from all over the country about Robert because he had so much attention as a high school athlete," recalled Huff, who co-authored a weekly recruiting diary with Alexander during the season. "I talked to people from the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and other national papers, and I usually just steered them to Homer Criddle."
 
Pastilong said Criddle played a key role in protecting his alma mater and helping West Virginia land Alexander.
 
"At the end of the day, Homer wore his old gold and blue colors very well," Pastilong laughed. "The state kind of came together to do this, from the governor to the coaches to the fans. I also compliment Robert, because I think he heard that and felt that."
 
Alexander's West Virginia football career can be evenly divided into two periods – pre-Don Nehlen and Don Nehlen.
 
During his three seasons playing in Frank Cignetti's Veer offense, Alexander produced an underachieving 1,392 yards and three touchdowns from 1977-79. But when Nehlen took over the program in 1980 and switched to the I-Formation with Walt Easley lined up at fullback in front of him, Alexander blossomed.
 
He ran for a career-high 187 yards in the season opener against Cincinnati and added 143 yards a week later against Colorado State. Alexander contributed 134 yards in a win against Richmond, 172 versus Virginia and 154 in a road loss to Hawaii on the way to 1,000-yard season, his only one at WVU.
 
Alexander finished his Mountaineer career with 2,456 yards and eight touchdowns and was taken in the 10^th round of the NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He spent two seasons in LA, and another one with the Los Angeles Express in the USFL.

Alexander later returned to West Virginia and frequently spoke to youth groups throughout the state about the dangers of substance abuse.
 
He was 64.