ROUND ROCK, Texas — In an age where looks feel like they're everything and where followers get confused for a footprint, Lexi Alexander would rather let her game do the talking.
"Basketball was always just something really, really fun for me," said the senior power forward at Cedar Ridge High School. "It's become a comfort zone.
She's one of the most decorated players in school history, and she'll be playing at the next level – a full-ride scholarship to Nicholls State University.
"I can have a future in this outside of high school," she said.
But it's what basketball has done for her in high school that's changed her life.
"It started when I was 9 years old. I think I had two or three little spots on my arms. It's called vitiligo and it's an auto-immune disorder. Basically, my immune system attacks the melanin in my skin so I lose pigment," she said.
"I was terrified," her mom, Mandy, said. "When the doctor told me that's what it was, I immediately crumbled. I knew what a hard path it was going to be for her, and I didn't want that for her."
"We didn't know the full dynamics of it yet, so we didn't know if I was going to be prone to sicknesses or if I was going to be in pain or any of that," Alexander added. "But there's no pain or anything to my body, it's just an appearance thing. The only pain that comes with it is sunburns."
The condition has also caused emotional and social pain for Alexander.
"My heart swells every time I see her walk into a room full of people she's never met because she knows. She knows they're going to look. But she still marches on, and that takes a lot of heart and bravery," Mandy said.
That heart and bravery are on full display whenever Alexander takes the basketball court.
"I can walk into a gym and everybody is looking at me, but once I step onto the court and I start playing, they're looking at me because of my ability," she said.
People start to then notice Alexander not for her skin but for her skills.
"Everything just melts away and I'm not focused on who's looking at me," she said. "I'm just focused on doing what I can do."
"It's definitely hard to overcome, but now that I've overcome it, I feel like I'm stronger than ever," she said.
That's because Alexander has left a footprint.
"Just because you're different, it doesn't mean you can't do the things you want to do," she said. "You might have to change a lot of people's opinions, but it doesn't stop anything."
Her game does the talking. Her skin is just a part of her story.
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