Why Hudsonville’s Alex Armstrong chose Southern Illinois
Hudsonville’s Alex Armstrong is guarded by Muskegon’s AJ Lambers on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. The senior committed to play at Southern Illinois University. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
HUDSONVILLE, Mich. - A week ago, an assistant coach at Southern Illinois University, drove up to Michigan to see Alex Armstrong play in a pick-up basketball game.
“He wanted to see me play,” Armstrong said. “Unfortunately, I was hurt. But he didn’t really care if he got to see me play or not. They still wanted me.”
The feeling was mutual.
Armstrong, a senior at Hudsonville High School, verbally committed to play basketball for Southern Illinois.
“I was between Colgate and Southern Illinois,” Armstrong said. “They had a lot of the similar things. But the thing that put it over the top was the people at Southern Illinois. I felt very comfortable there.”
Armstrong, a 6-foot-6 guard/forward had 13 college offers, including eight from Division I schools.
Hudsonville’s Alex Armstrong dunks during at the Hudsonville Showcase against Caledonia on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).
Southern Illinois plays in the Missouri Valley Conference and was 16-16 last season under head coach Scott Nagy. The school is located in Carbondale, Ill., which is about a seven-hour drive from Hudsonville.
“Carbondale is a pretty cool place,” Armstrong said. “They’ve got Marion right there, which is a nice city. The small-town feel made it feel similar to Hudsonville.”
In June, Armstrong put on a show at the annual Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Showcase at Grand Valley State.
“Cornell Mann, the Grand Valley coach, he knows Coach (Steve) Hawkins really well,” Armstrong recalled. “Coach Mann called Coach Hawkins after BCAM and said ‘here’s a guy you really should look at’ The next day or two, they offered me.”
Hawkins, the former head coach at Western Michigan University, has been an assistant at SIU for the past four years. He was going to be in the area last week, he was hoping to catch Armstrong play.
No matter. SIU has seen him play a lot, right?
Nope.
They still haven’t seen him play in person.
“But they obviously watched film,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong, the son of Eric and Lori Armstrong, said his parents were happy for him. Although they aren’t thrilled with the long drive to see their son play.
“They wanted me to do whatever felt right for me,” he said. “They would have loved me to stay closer to home, but in the end, they said it was my decision.”
Armstrong played travel ball with West Michigan Premier and Northcoast Premier.
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, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
Hudsonville’s Alex Armstrong plays with West Michigan Premier at the Storm Classic on April 10 2026. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).