Megan Hudson makes her own legacy in the Lansing area

By Emmett Roman
Staff Reporter

In basketball, the players win the games, but a coach can make or break how well the players work together. Coaches are vital to a team’s success, and the ones who do are remembered. And no one would have thought that little Megan Hudson, who sat on the sidelines at her sister’s basketball games, completely disinterested, would ever become one of those coaches.

Hudson is the women’s basketball coach for Lansing Community College. She started playing basketball in fourth grade, finding inspiration from watching her sister play. Hudson’s mother had wanted her to pick up the sport, but Hudson refused—citing a lack of interest. But that lack of interest quickly dissipated after attending her sister’s game. “I went and watched my sister play,” Hudson began, “something clicked for me. I ended up falling in love with basketball.”

Throughout her high school career, she continued to play basketball and dabbled in other sports, including soccer and track and field. Entering adulthood, Hudson began to compete in triathlons and cycling events.

As time passes, people grow. While Hudson explored different sports and continued her education at LCC, one thing remained a constant—her love for basketball.

After graduating high school, Hudson started her LCC journey as a student athlete. “Coming out of high school, I had gotten some Division III offers,” Hudson said. “Financially, that just wasn’t a fit for me, so, I took the opportunity to play for LCC with a scholarship. I was blessed to play the year after the team had won the national championship.” Hudson played alongside high-level players, many of whom fostered a supportive learning environment, helping her to grow into a better player.

As she continued her journey through higher education, Hudson joined the Bluefield State University Division II basketball team. While there, she achieved her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a marketing and management specialization. Hudson also earned herself a master’s degree in business from the University of Phoenix. She puts those business degrees to good use in her current role as a senior buyer with Jackson National Life Insurance, a position she has held for 10 years.

Following her graduation from Bluefield State, Hudson took a position coaching basketball at Waverly High School. While at Waverly, an old high school teammate came to her with an offer. Layne Ingram, then the head coach for the women’s basketball team at LCC, was looking for an assistant coach. “Under his tutelage, I learned so much,” Hudson said. And, after Ingram retired and became chief of staff for LCC, she took his place as head coach. “I fully believe in the junior college opportunity and I'm very grateful that I get to pay that forward,” Hudson stated.

Hudson’s favorite thing about being head coach is bringing the confidence out in her players. “I find a lot of joy when my athletes have their ‘aha moments’, I call it,” Hudson said. “Something they've been working on or practicing or trying to figure out how to get a breakthrough, and you see that thing click. You can see it on their face and how they carry themselves.”

For Hudson, helping her players to achieve this confidence has been one of her most rewarding parts of coaching. “My girls know that they always have family with us,” Hudson said. “No matter what it is in life, we want to help celebrate you and your story of your success in life.”

Hudson hopes to build a legacy like her mentor Mike Ingram. “To watch how he's built a culture of family, and his athletes will continue to come back year after year after year to say hi, to stop in and check on him, and he does the same for others,” Hudson said, “that’s the kind of legacy I want to build.”

Hudson continues to create culture within her team as well. “If you don't have a great culture, you're not going to win as many games as we've won over the last three years,” Hudson explained, a nod to her overall record of 81-16. “That's a huge piece of what we spend our time on, is building our culture, building people as individuals, and making sure they understand that the team and family environment is the number one priority.” 

One of her most notable accomplishments is being named Coach of the Year three years in a row for their Michigan Community College Athletic Association’s Western Conference. Last year, she was named Women’s Junior College Coach of the Year through the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan. This year, she was also named the NJCAA Great Lakes District A Coach of the Year.  

To Hudson, though, those awards are just an indicator of something much more fundamental to a successful team. “Yeah, I mean, of course you take a lot of pride in it, but I truly believe the time that we put into building our culture and our chemistry as a team and the team really believing in each other has led to our success,” she said.