Prospect Introduction: Alex Vargo

Who is he?:

Alex, a native of Wheeling, West Virginia, just completed his final season playing with Wheeling Park High School (Wheeling, OH). They finished the year at 18-6 overall and secured the #6 seed in the Class AAA state tournament before the season was canceled due to the coronavirus. Vargo averaged 27.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this year, while shooting 42% from 3 and 89% from the free throw line. He finished his career with 1,634 points which ranks second all time at Wheeling Park.

This past summer, Vargo decided not to play AAU and work on his skills after playing in the first 2 EYBL sessions with All Ohio Red. There he played alongside multiple Division I prospects.

Alex is a 6'6" wing that is a certified scorer. Earlier this year, against Parkersburg South (ranked #8 in AAA in WV), he exploded for 53 points (a school record). He is capable of playing the 2 and the 3. Vargo has one of the best mid range pull up's in the state. He scores a majority of his points of pull up jumpers. He also shoots the 3 ball extremely well and is a good finisher. Alex has a good handle and does a good job of utilizing it to create good looks for himself. Vargo is a great positional rebounder, he really hits the boards hard on both ends. Defensively, Vargo has made huge strides in the past year and as he continues to improve his lateral foot speed and continues to get stronger it will improve even more. Alex is a solid defender and will be able to guard 2's and 3's in college.

He stated his favorite memory of his high school career was,"winning the regional final over Morgantown High School." What he didn't mention about that game in particular was that he was the one who made the go-ahead bucket to put Wheeling Park up by 1 point late in the game.

He describes his biggest strengths as,"my biggest strengths are my ability to score and handle the ball, my catch and shoot game, pulling up for jumpers off the dribble and my ability to get to the front of the rim."

Watching him play this year, he reminded me of Tobias Harris. Both are good scorers who are able to create for themselves or hit the catch and shoot jump shot. Both also rebound very well for wing's and can play multiple positions.

Recruitment?:

Vargo has signed to play basketball at Youngstown State University in the Horizon League. He also held Division I offers from Oakland University Virginia Military Institute. He also had interest from schools such as the University of Dayton and the University of Wyoming.

When asked about his recruitment, he said he chose Youngstown State because,"the coaching staff recruited me very hard and expressed their interest in me as a true freshman."