Alex Lang’s Brooklyn College highlight reel is first-rate. To start with, the 20-year head coach of the women’s basketball team has been a CUNYAC Coach of the Year seven times—twice in the last two seasons. He has led a team that had zero wins the season before he arrived to ten consecutive 20-win seasons, the latest of which ended after the team scored its first ever NCAA tournament win. The historic season also included Lang’s 300th career win, a milestone that landed him in the Women’s Basketball Association’s prestigious Victory Club. Despite all that dazzle, gives much of the credit to the players, sharing that the secret to his success has been simple. “Hard work,” he says, “has been something I try to instill in all my teams.” A lifelong New Yorker, Lang’s start in collegiate athletics began when he joined City College as assistant women’s basketball coach after graduating from Albany State with a B.A. in English Literature. Since coming to Brooklyn College in 2002, he has served in several roles, including sports information director, coach for women’s cross country, and briefly a coach for women’s softball. He is currently also associate director of athletics. Growing up in the Bronx, Lang has always maintained a passion for sports and recognized the power of coaching early on. He recalls that he even gave his Little League coaches suggestions for strategy. His experience watching his father coach a middle school basketball team gave Lang a broader perspective, and he could see one, sometimes two, steps ahead during a game. In addition, he credits becoming a father to two sons as strengthening his understanding of his impact as a coach. “Some of the skills between coaching and parenting are transferable. It’s a lot of fun, and you have to have a lot of patience,” he says. Lang, who earned a Master of Science degree in Sports Management in 2015, is an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College teaching a course in coaching and officiating that is a part of the physical education major. Despite his accomplishments on the court and in the classroom, what he celebrates most is the sense of community. “The thing that stands out to me the most is the people I’ve met along the way,” he says.
