Alex Strazzanti, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound athlete from Chaska (MN) High, announced recently that he will be a preferred walk-on at Minnesota.
Strazzanti helped lead the Hawks to an 6-4 mark as a senior, losing to Chanhassen 27-11 in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs. He completed 69 of 139 passes for 838 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions.
Strazzanti also plays basketball for the Hawks. He has helped lead the Hawks to a 17-4 mark, winning their last eleven games. Strazzanti is averaging 8.2 points per game and has scored ten or more points four times, including 17 points against Edina.
Gopher Hole caught up with Strazzanti to learn more about his decision.
Gopher Hole: You recently committed to Minnesota as a preferred walk-on. When did you commit?
Alex Strazzanti: I was there for a visit last week just to make sure everything was all set in stone. I toured all the facilities. Talked to a couple of coaches and learned more about the campus and the school and the process behind it all. I loved it there and knew that there was no other place I wanted to go. .
Gopher Hole: What was the main reason you decided Minnesota was where you wanted to be?
Alex Strazzanti: I have grown up in Minnesota. I’ve always loved the school. It has a terrific business program in the Carlson School of Management and I also love the coaches that this team has brought in at Minnesota with Coach Fleck and a lot of energy coming in. I figured that it would be a great place to play at. I always knew that I wanted to pursue football in college and was just waiting for the right option and it came and I knew that there was no better place.
Gopher Hole: When did you first start talking to Minnesota about being a possible walk-on?
Alex Strazzanti: I first started talking to Minnesota with the old coaching staff, actually. I was pretty close with Coach O’Brien for awhile and everything happened with that. I had to be a little more patient. I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen, but then I got in touch with Coach (John) Schaekel, (Assistant Coordinator of Recruiting Operations) and started figuring it out all over again.
Gopher Hole: What other schools were you hearing from besides Minnesota? I think that I read that you had a preferred walk-on opportunity as Iowa State. Is that right?
Alex Strazzanti: Yes. That was my other biggest one, a preferred walk-on at Iowa State. I was in contact with a couple of Patriot League schools. I had a lot of Division II offers, but I realized that wasn’t a route that I really wanted to pursue and I thought I could do, not necessarily better, because that is great football, but it just wasn’t my ideal situation, so I knew that it was either going to be Minnesota or Iowa State. I just waited it out and Minnesota came along and fortunately for me, I decided to take it.
Gopher Hole: What Division 2 schools did you have offers from?
Alex Strazzanti: Mankato and Augustana were my top two. They were both very good. I talked to them for awhile and it was hard to turn those down. They were great to me and everything, but it was just not the route that I wanted to go.
Gopher Hole: How hard was it to say no to money from those two schools to just walk-on?
Alex Strazzanti: That is a great positive to go D2 and that is a very difficult situation, knowing that I would be going D2 and being the man at one of these two schools, but Minnesota is a great place for me. I love the size of the school. I love the Business school. I like what the new coaches are doing and when I weighed all the pros and cons, it was a tough decision, but I figured Minnesota would be the best place for me.
Gopher Hole: You have a former Chaska teammate Bronson Dovich, a 6-foot-5, 300-pound redshirt sophomore offensive lineman on the Gopher squad. Had you talked to him much before you made your decision about Minnesota?
Alex Strazzanti: I was in contact with him throughout the process and he told me just to stay patient and everything would come. He was great to me. I missed playing with him and I’m glad that I get to play with him again. He was always awesome to me and I just can’t wait to see him again,
Gopher Hole: Your senior season, your team finished 6-4. How pleased were you with the success you had this past season?
Alex Strazzanti: It was an up and down year. Coming from my junior season to my senior season, I think that we graduated four of our offensive lineman and all three of our defensive lineman, so that was our biggest hole that we had to fill. Overall, I’m happy with how our team did. It was a great year. I loved all the guys on the team. Obviously, I would have loved to do better. Just being competitive in that way. I don’t want to settle for anything. So obviously, we came up a little bit short of some of our goals, but overall, it was a great season. I loved all the guys and was very happy with how it came out.
Gopher Hole: How pleased were you with some of the individual success you had this year?
Alex Strazzanti: I was happy. I worked hard. I worked very hard over the summer and I knew over the summer, football was probably the sport that I wanted to pursue more than basketball, so I worked hard at it and set goals to achieve over the season and I achieved most of them, so I am very pleased with how I did over the season. I had a lot of great teammates around me, which helps as well. It was a great season. I loved it.
Gopher Hole: How would you describe yourself as a football player?
Alex Strazzanti: Very tough. Physical. Competitive guy with an edge. I don’t think that there is any person on the field who will be able to outhit me. I will be one of the hardest hitters always when I walk on the field, so that is always what I try to take pride in. Just being the most physical guy out there and just giving it my all.
Gopher Hole: You played quarterback and defensive back in high school. What have the coaches said about a position you would play in college?
Alex Strazzanti: They recruited me as a safety with hopes that I might be developing into a nickel outside linebacker since I have a bigger frame. They think that they could put more weight on me.
Gopher Hole: You are playing basketball and the Hawks are 17-4 and have won eleven straight. How pleased are you with the way that your team is playing right now?
Alex Strazzanti: It’s awesome. We were all having a blast. Just like football, I have a lot of great teammates in basketball. One is going to Columbia (Myles Hanson), one is going to Northern State for basketball, so we have a lot of great guys and it has just been a blast. We are taking every day like it is our last because we know that we won’t have too much longer to play together, so it has been a blast playing with these guys since fourth grade.
Gopher Hole: You scored 14 points last night against Chanhassen in a win. They are your big rival, who beat you twice in football, including in the playoffs. It is nice to get a little revenge against them on the basketball?
Alex Strazzanti: Of course. It is always terrific to beat those guys. Unfortunately, they did get the best of us in football, but we were able to get the best of them in basketball, so I am very pleased with it. It is hard to complain.
Gopher Hole: Do you play any spring sports anymore?
Alex Strazzanti: No, I played AAU over the past couple of years, but I won’t be playing this year.
Gopher Hole: How much do you think that basketball helps you with football in terms of foot work? Do you think that as a football player?
Alex Strazzanti: I think it helps a lot. I have been called one of the best defensive players in the state and I think that translates over to football, due to keeping my guy in front of me and being physical and being able to match whatever I have to defend against, so I think it helps a lot being able to just stay in front of somebody and not give up easy points. Obviously, it is something that can translate pretty easily and I think that it is a great asset to playing basketball as well.
Gopher Hole: What things are you going to be to get ready to report to camp in June?
Alex Strazzanti: First and foremost, I’ll be lifting and training for speed. As basketball comes around, it is really tough to lift during the season, so I lost quite a bit of weight over the season. I know that I’ll be able to put that back on pretty easily, so my main goal is to just get in the weight room, lift as much as I can, but still be able to keep my speed and flexibility. I’ll be working with a couple of trainers as well for that. Once basketball ends, I’ll be strictly football. Just getting stronger and more athletic.
Gopher Hole: You just recently committed to Minnesota as a preferred walk-on, but what has your relationship been like with the new coaching staff so far?
Alex Strazzanti: It has been pretty good. I’ve been in touch a lot with Coach Schaekel. He has been great to me. He has been very nice throughout the entire process, helping it to be easy and efficient for me. I meet with a couple other coaches on my visit. I liked them all a lot. They were very open to me. They all said that they watched my film and loved it and they are very excited for me to come. I love all the coaches. They were all very open and said that if I ever need anything to please feel free and reach out. They were very open to me coming.
Gopher Hole: Coach Fleck seems have a lot of kids excited about Minnesota. Does that make you even a little more excited, too since other kids want to play for Minnesota now?
Alex Strazzanti: Yes. It is awesome when you see the top recruits talking about Minnesota. I think that Coach Fleck has a great passion and energy, which translates great for football. I believe that you need a coach with a certain passion in the game to really succeed, so with him having that, it is great to see other kids buying into it and so have I. It’s awesome.