The Illinois State Redbirds welcome Sam Truxaw to the family!
Truxaw, a 6’3″ 210 lb. defensemen is a Huntington Beach, CA native. He will join the Redbirds in the 2024-25 season after playing for the Peoria Mustangs in the NA3HL.
Sam explained that he chose ISU because, “I chose Illinois State as it is the best fit for me to advance both my academic and hockey careers. I know plenty of the guys that play at ISU from juniors and am very excited to be back playing with them again.” He intends to major in business administration.
“My favorite coach is Ryan Frost from Orange Lutheran Hockey. He pushed me for four years through high school to grow not only in hockey, but also as a person. He is a big reason why I am the leader and person I am today and would not be here if it were not for him. I also have to mention both Blake and Steve Ortman from the Peoria Mustangs as they both gave me an opportunity to go play for them and put full trust in me to play and grow my game in my junior career with them,” Truxaw stated. When asked who his biggest supporter was, Sam says, “my parents have definitely been my biggest supporters. They have always been supportive of my hockey career and have pushed me to make my own decisions and to take every opportunity that comes my way. I could not be where I am without them.” Sam also mentioned that his biggest goal was, “the game tying goal to tie it up in my third high school hockey state championships.” Truxaw expressed his favorite hockey memory was winning three state championships three years in a row with his high school hockey team.
Truxaw expressed that he is looking forward to getting back and playing with his junior hockey teammates and push to win a national championship. Sam has two older twin siblings: Jack and Drew. When asked what animal Sam would want to be, he stated, “I would be a pelican as they have the ability to sight their prey from the skies and dive down into the ocean water to snatch and eat their prey.”
“We couldn’t be more excited to add Truxaw to the group. His work ethic, competitiveness, leadership ability, and experience are going to set him up for an extremely successful college career with us and his presence will be felt as soon as he gets into the room.” – D1 Head Coach Chris Prewitt.
Truxaw is the third member of the 2023-24 Peoria Mustangs to commit to the Redbirds joining Declan McDermott and Kason Yamada. Sam will also join a long list of former Peoria Mustangs to play for ISU Hockey including Michael Natoli, Tony Campise, Jaycob Bland, Ethan Chesney, Jackson Gram, Cole Walter, Ryan Callahan, and Jackson Gram.
If you’re interested in playing for ISU Hockey, we encourage you to fill out our Recruit Form under the team tab on our website!