Alex Compton

Who is Alex Compton?

Alexander M. Compton is a retired Filipino-born American basketball player who had several stints in professional Philippine basketball leagues, either as player or assistant coach. He is now the national tournament director of the Nokia National Basketball Training Center Developmental League, the grassroots program of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.

Born in Makati City in the Philippines, Compton and his family spent a year in northeastern Thailand when he was ten years old. His parents, both Southeast Asian Studies scholars, were researchers there.

Compton moved to Madison from upstate New York in 1988, when his parents began working at the University of Wisconsin. Compton was a starting guard on the 1992 Madison West High School basketball squad. There he teamed up with Mike Dammen to lead the school's only state championship team since 1945.

Although he dreamed of playing in a foreign league, Compton had no clue how to get to one until his junior year at Cornell. When a coach heard Compton was born in the Philippines, he told Compton that he could play on a team in the Philippine Basketball Association.