AmeriLeague founder reportedly ex-NCAA star who falsified identity

The story of the upstart AmeriLeague basketball circuit took a bizarre turn Wednesday when the league's founder admitted that he has been acting under a fictitious persona, according to ESPN's "Outside the Lines".

The program reported that the fledgling league's operations manager was told by the man who had founded the AmeriLeague - previously identified as Cerruti Brown - was actually Glendon Alexander, a one-time McDonald's All-American and NCAA star who has numerous convictions for fraud to his name.

The Las Vegas-based AmeriLeague, which has yet to play a game, made news in basketball circles in recent months when they announced signings of former NBA players such as Royce White, Henry Walker, Antoine Wright, and Dajuan Wagner. Cerruti Brown had touted the league as a potential rival to the NBA D-League, funded by investors, with a league-wide dispersal draft scheduled to take place Thursday.

Alexander starred as a basketball player at Arkansas and Oklahoma State in the 1990s, and was later charged with stealing $150,000 in cash and jewelry from former Major League Baseball player Derek Bell. He also served time in a Texas prison for bank and wire fraud.

A coach associated with the league, Joe Connelly, said he resigned Monday when he suspected that Brown was in fact Alexander. AmeriLeague player salaries were believed to be in the $150,000 to $200,000 range, and first paychecks were reportedly due this weekend. Another league employee told ESPN he has yet to be paid anything.