SCOTTSDALE — In the hours leading up to Terry Armstrong’s commitment to the Arizona Wildcats late Wednesday afternoon, there was no press conference being planned, no commitment videos being shot, no hats lined up to choose from.
The 6-foot-6-inch, 185-pound guard from Michigan just worked out Wednesday afternoon with his Bella Vista Prep teammates at their small campus gym in far north Scottsdale, throwing down a few acrobatic dunks and 3-pointers afterward in front of basically nobody.
As he flew through the air, though, you could see his future: A navy pair of compression shorts he wore under his red Nike shorts carried the UA logo.
That was about it, though Armstrong posted a graphic of himself in an Arizona uniform to Twitter at 5 p.m. and gave a few interviews, including one to the Star after Bella Vista practiced Wednesday afternoon.
It was low-key, fitting with Armstrong’s quiet personality. Armstrong didn’t attend UA’s celebrated Red-Blue Game. He visited New Mexico, where fans arrived to greet him at the airport, but he didn’t need any of that, either.
What mattered most, he said: The impression UA coaches made stuck with him, prompting him to pick the Wildcats over New Mexico and Oklahoma.
“That’s the reason,” Armstrong said. “The coaching staff treated me well. Anywhere I was they came to watch, they came to school and watched practice.”
The UA staff began recruiting Armstrong heavily last spring, offered him a scholarship over the summer and hosted him for a visit the weekend of Oct. 5. Armstrong said he was impressed with UA’s academics and the campus environment he saw during his visit.
“Definitely, the academics — I felt like they can help me,” Armstrong said. “And going on my visit, I got to see the campus and I really just enjoyed my time there.”
Armstrong moved from Flint, Michigan, to attend Bella Vista in August 2017, and Bella Vista coach Kyle Weaver said he has benefited both athletically and academically at the small school. He said Armstrong is a “great kid” who does what he’s asked and has also turned into a better student who will qualify to play collegiately.
Academics “was the only thing that going to hold him back from college but he’s now going to qualify and he’s making sure he’s studying, taking notes,” Weaver said. “He’s really changed his academic perspective on everything.”
Armstrong said the move was hard to make, since his entire family — including five brothers and five sisters — remain in Michigan. The desert may have grown on him; he said his initial interest in returning to the midwest for college faded.
“When I got here I just kind of felt like ‘This is better,’” he said.
Suns forward Josh Jackson, who left Armstrong tickets for Wednesday’s Suns-Lakers game, can probably relate. A longtime friend and mentor of Armstrong’s, dating back to their time in the same Michigan club ball program, Jackson said before the game that he was glad to have already heard of Armstrong’s decision — even though Jackson was recruited heavily by Arizona for years … and then picked Kansas instead.
“I almost went there,” Jackson said of Arizona with a smile. “It was super-exciting. It’s a great pickup for Arizona. He’ll fit right in.”
Armstrong’s versatile game is a big reason why. Weaver said Armstrong has a 6-6 frame with a 6-9 wingspan, and he’s able to play either small forward, shooting guard or even point guard — with potential to an all-conference type of defender, too.
“He’s such a good midrange scorer,” Weaver said. “Fifteen feet and in, he’s money. He’s athletic. He’s really improved his 3-point shot. He just opens the game with his athleticism and ability to push in transition and use all of that to turn him into a great player.”
That suggests Armstrong could fit neatly into the three-guard scheme UA coach Sean Miller spoke of shifting to earlier this month.
The Wildcats have already landed commitments from two five-star guards, Nico Mannion of Phoenix Pinnacle High School and Josh Green of Australia. In addition, five guards on Arizona’s current roster — Brandon Williams, Brandon Randolph, Alex Barcello, Dylan Smith and Devonaire Doutrive — will have eligibility remaining next season.
The UA also has commitments from center Christian Koloko of Cameroon and forward Stone Gettings, a grad transfer from Cornell who is scheduled to arrive in December but not play until 2019-20.
Before taking in the Suns-Lakers game later Wednesday at Talking Stick Arena, Mannion said it was “very exciting” to know that Armstrong would be joining him and Green in the 2019-20 backcourt. Mannion and Green are close friends and former travel-ball teammates, while Mannion said he has become friends with Armstrong, too.
“Once Josh committed I was super-excited because that’s been my backcourt for the past two or three years” in club basketball, Mannion said. “And then I was talking to Terry for a while, telling him he should come. He was thinking about it. We talked yesterday or the day before so I knew.
“We should be really good. We’ve got a great backcourt coming in along with Christian and Stone Gettings, and hopefully we can get another big. Get a five-man (high school) class and we’ll be really good.”
Armstrong said he’s also talked to both Mannion and Green a lot, and was looking forward to having a role in UA’s potentially guard-heavy scheme.
“That’s definitely part of it,” Armstrong said. “I definitely feel we’ll be able to go in and help the program win.”
