The Summer of Armstrong: Hudsonville star got seven Division I offers in July
Hudsonville High School senior Alex Armstrong puts up a shot over his travel-ball teammate Max Zichterman during a pick-up basketball game on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. Armstrong has 14 college offers. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
JENISON, Mich. - Alex Armstrong is a pretty quiet, reserved guy.
The lanky, blond kid usually goes with the pace of the basketball game. He doesn’t often show his emotions on the court. He rarely gets too high or too low.
“He’s not a loud kid at all,” said Harper Huntington, Armstrong’s teammate on the West Michigan Premier travel basketball team. “He’s pretty quiet. But if you piss him off, he’ll try to kill you and score more.”
Armstrong, a 6-foot-6, 180 pound guard at Hudsonville High School in West Michigan, has had a killer summer.
He has 14 college basketball offers, including seven Division I offers - all in July.
“It’s crazy how recruitment can change,” Armstrong said. “Having just two offers (going into July) - from D3 and the NAIA - to having 14 offers and seven of them are D1. It shows the growth I’ve made.”
He has Division I offers from Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Boston University, Canisius, Southern Illinois, Stonehill and Illinois Chicago.
"He’s a 6-6 guard who can shoot, can score … and you’ve seen his athleticism,” said Chris Pearl, Armstrong’s coach with West Michigan Premier. “His scoring ability is up there. He’s just a do-it-all guy. He will get you 10 rebounds off pure athleticism and get you three or four blocks. He’s a stat stuffer.”
Hudsonville High School senior Alex Armstrong warms up before a pick-up basketball game on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. Armstrong has seven Division I college offers. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
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Armstrong played in a pick-up basketball game on August 4 with a lot of college and former pro players, including Pearl, who played at Davenport University and Grand Valley State University.
Armstrong missed his first three shots, including getting blocked by his own coach.
“Max (Zichterman) was on my team,” Pearl said of the South Christian High School senior. “I told him to cut Alex off. I’m a little older and a little slower but I was able to meet (Armstrong) at rim. That was kinda fun. I’ll tease him about that.”
Armstrong wasn’t happy about it. But he didn’t miss many shots after that.
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Armstrong - the son of Eric and Lori Armstrong - comes from an athletic family. His dad played four sports in high school and his mom played volleyball at Grand Valley State. His older sister Lexi Armstrong is on the volleyball team at GVSU.
For awhile, It looked like Alex might have a future in volleyball, too.
In fact, he’s had more success in volleyball so far. He won volleyball state titles at Hudsonville his freshman and sophomore years.
But then he got hurt.
“I gave it up because I knew I had more to give to basketball,” Armstrong said. “I wasn’t putting in the time. Also, I got hurt playing volleyball last summer. That prevented me from playing at (AAU basketball) nationals on the 3SSB Gold circuit last year. Those were the two big reasons. I just don’t love volleyball as much as basketball.”
But playing volleyball has been a blessing. It has helped Armstrong become bouncy.
“It helps with how to jump and then with your second jump,” Armstrong said. “Having a quick step off the ground helps (in basketball) with rebounding and put-backs. The amount of jumping you do in volleyball translates to basketball very well.”
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West Michigan Premier’s Alex Armstrong competes in the Rumble in the Rapids on April 25, 2026. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
Huntington and Armstrong have been teammates for three years with West Michigan Premier (formally Northcoast Premier). But he’s known him for much longer than that.
"The first time I saw Alex was when I played against him in like third or fourth grade,” Huntington said. “He was really skinny and he could shoot.”
Not much has changed.
Huntington and Armstrong play in the same Ottawa-Kent Red Conference during the regular season, Huntington with Grand Haven and Armstrong at Hudsonville.
Huntington, who has committed to play basketball at GVSU, had to guard his buddy in one game.
“I was guarding him the whole game,” he recalled. “I give him a little room to shoot because he can also get downhill so fast. This AAU season he was making a lot of threes. So I’ll have to guard him more as a shooter (during the school year).”
From left, Majok Ajuong (East Kentwood), Makai Campos (West Ottawa), Alex Armstrong (Hudsonville), Harper Huntington (Grand Haven), Dau Dau (East Kentwood), Ben Geerdes (Caledonia) and Max Zichterman (South Christian) of West Michigan Premier during a practice on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. They were formally NorthCoast Premier. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
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Armstrong has played travel ball since he was in elementary school. And much of that has been with two teammates: Max Zichterman (South Christian) and Makai Campos (Holland West Ottawa).
“With the landscape of AAU right now - where you’re bringing kids from all over - it’s cool to have a strong bond between everyone,” Armstrong said of West Michigan Premier’s 17U team. “Everyone is from West Michigan and everyone has bought into what Chris is doing. We all were on the same page. I’ve been playing with Max and Makai forever, so that helps a ton. They are my favorite teammates.
In July, their West Michigan Premier team won the 17U championship on the Made Hoops travel circuit. It was such a big deal that they had huge trophy, tons of confetti, and even a champagne shower to celebrate. Or maybe it was actually water.
“The Made Hoops circuit does an amazing job helping with exposure for kids,” Armstrong said. “They did a lot for me.
I was mic’d up during the final session. They’re making a documentary about me on YouTube, which is pretty sweet. It helped me get out of my shell a little bit.”
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Hudsonville’s Alex Armstrong dunks during at the Hudsonville Showcase on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
If you like big scoring numbers, you’ve got the wrong player.
Armstrong isn’t one of those kids who is going to put up 30 and 40 point games. It’s just not in his DNA.
He’s always played on talented Hudsonville teams, coached by long-time coach Eric Elliott. He scores when his team needs it. Not trying to make highlight plays and putting up crazy numbers.
“Hudsonville’s not an ISO-ball kind of team,” Huntington said. “He’s not a selfish guy. He wants to get everyone else involved. He could be more of a scorer if he wants to be.”
At Hudsonville last season, Armstrong averaged 14.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks per game. During the travel-ball season, he averaged 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
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Armstrong was getting a kick out of all the phone calls from college coaches after every game during the two-week long Made Hoops tournament in Maryland.
“They were all at the tournaments,” he said. “They would call me after. I have a lot of East Coast offers, which I never thought I’d get. I thought I’d only get schools near me. But a majority of the D1s are out East.”
So when does he plan to choose a school?
“I plan to make my decision in November,” Armstrong said. “That’s what I’ve told the college coaches. But if there’s one that really sticks out to me, I might commit earlier.”
He also has offers from Taylor University, Hope College, Northwood University, Indiana Wesleyan University, Thomas Jefferson University, Hillsdale College and Ferris State University.
A young Alex Armstrong plays in the PrepHoops Freshman Showcase in August 2023. This was entering his freshman year at Hudsonville High School. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).