To call the Owls’ 24-year-old forward a picture of persistence and dedication would be a criminal understatement.
Hailing from the small town of Tappahannock, Virginia, which holds fewer residents than a sold-out KSU Convocation Center at roughly 2,400, Alex Peterson‘s primary focus has been basketball from a young age.
“I always knew I wanted to play college basketball,” Peterson said when recalling his journey starting at home. “Coming from [Tappahannock] we didn’t really know about Division I, II, III…it was just basketball and being on TV. It’s been my dream since I was 10 years old.”
Peterson graduated from Essex High School in Tappahannock and decided to take a post-graduate year at Shooting 4 Greatness academy in Raleigh, North Carolina, in hopes of garnering more interest from college coaches.
Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go as planned. Peterson left S4G early and returned home to work on his game. Peterson worked relentlessly day by day at home for four months during a time he described as having “No offers and no hope.”
Finally, an opportunity to walk on at Missouri State University-West Plains emerged, a junior college close to a thousand miles away from home.
When Peterson arrived at MSUWP, he was seen as nothing more than a body on a roster with over 20 players.
Shortly into the season, however, Peterson found himself as an important rotational piece for the Grizzlies. Ending the season as the team’s blocks leader, Peterson helped the MSUWP to a 20-12 record.
Despite gaining interest from higher-level schools during the offseason, Peterson opted to return for a second season with MSUWP. As a sophomore, he would really cement himself as a force for the Grizzlies, averaging an impressive 14.3 points per game and 6.8 rebounds, while also leading the team in blocks for a second year.
After his breakout season, Owls Head Coach Amir-Abdur-Rahim came calling.
“We talked on the phone for like an hour,” Peterson said when asked about the impact Abdur-Rahim made on his decision to ultimately end up at KSU. “Throughout the whole recruiting process, I hadn’t really talked to a head coach like that. There were a few that I talked to briefly but it was never like oh we’ve been on the phone for an hour.”
Peterson’s first year in the black and gold saw him appear in every game, and start all but one.
In his second season, Peterson embraced a bench role but still appeared in 31 games for the Owls. The team also took a step in the right direction, improving from five wins in 2020-21 to 13 in 2021-22, escaping the ASUN Cellar.
Peterson is in his final year of collegiate basketball this season. As the oldest member of the Men’s Basketball team, he’s provided a vital leadership role both on and off the court for the Owls.
“It’s been fun being the old guy in the locker room,” Peterson noted about his influence on his younger teammates. “It’s been fun seeing them get better and seeing them grow. Becoming better basketball players and better people. Because not only have I seen a lot of basketball, but I’ve seen a lot of entities of life that they haven’t.”
Peterson will accomplish a childhood dream when the Owls take the court at the NCAA Tournament on March 17, but right now he says he’s simply just enjoying the ride.
