CONWAY, SC (WMBF) - It's a sport few in the Palmetto State know much about.
"It's an intense sport, hard hitting, full contact, football without the pads pretty much," said CCU's Alex Nazon.
When Nazon enrolled at Coastal Carolina in 2007, he had never even played rugby before.
"I kind of wanted to try something new. I used to wrestle in high school with a bunch of contact then switched over to this, so I like it," said Nazon.
"He didn't know the first thing about rugby when he first came, which is one of our biggest selling points. You don't have to have experience, we'll teach you if you come on out to practice and we'll teach you how to play rugby," said CCU's rugby coach, Robert Kegler.
Over the course of Alex's four years, he developed from raw talent into one of the best players in the southeast. Qualifying for the USA Rugby South All-Star team in May and leading the squad to the national championship over the summer.
"He developed the skills, the drills, the ability to make it from a rookie in 2007 to making the USA South All-Star team and winning the national championship," said Kegler.
Nazon added, "I just do what I do, I don't try to be better than anyone else. I just play my game"
Despite the individual success, Alex remains a team player first, but can't help to think about what the future holds for himself in the sport of rugby.
"Hopefully going over to Europe and playing, maybe training for the 2016 sevens team, or picking up men's club somewhere in the U.S.," said Nazon.
Alex is seeing plenty of success off the rugby field as well. He is on track to graduate from Coastal Carolina this winter.
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