Central Michigan University Athletics
Photo by: Allissa Rusco
Larry Austin Takes His Seat At The Table
3/1/2019 12:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Guard at the core of surging program
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Larry Austin Jr. cut his college-basketball teeth elsewhere. His hunger is coming to the great benefit of Central Michigan.
Austin, a senior guard on the Chippewa men's team, leads the Mid-American Conference in assists at 5.7 per game and ranks sixth in the league in scoring (16.7 per). He has played a major role all season long, starting every game for the 20-8 Chippewas, and his contributions during CMU's four-game win streak and late-season surge are innumerable, particularly in light of the fact that his backcourt mate, Shawn Roundtree Jr., has missed the better part of the last two games with an injury.
Austin and the Chippewas play host to Toledo on Saturday (4:30 p.m.) in a MAC-West showdown. Toledo leads the division at 10-5, while the Chippewas are a game back at 9-6. A CMU win forges a first-place tie.
CMU – picked to finish last in the West in the preseason poll of league coaches and media who cover the conference -- is in the thick of it as the calendar flips from February to March.
And Austin, likewise, is at the epicenter of it, making the most of his one and only season in a Chippewa uniform after spending the early part of his college career at Xavier before transferring to Vanderbilt, from which he earned his bachelor's degree.
Austin saw significant, if spotty, playing time at both schools; but at CMU, he has blossomed as a starter in coach Keno Davis' uptempo system.
"It's fun playing here," said Austin, a native of Springfield, Ill. "We get up and down, we play fast, we get after it on the defensive end. We play with a lot of toughness, a lot of grit, a lot of passion. I'm playing the game with guys who want to win games, regardless of who's scoring the basketball. We're just a family and we just want to win, at the end of the day."
The end of the day, the end of a college career.
For Austin, that end looms, sometime in the next few weeks. It has been a long and winding road from his upbringing in Springfield to a commitment and then de-commitment to Tennessee, and then to Xavier, and to Vanderbilt and, finally, Mount Pleasant.
The 2018-19 season is the first since his days at Springfield's Lanphier High School that he knows he will be in the starting lineup; knows where he's going, if you will. He certainly knows where he's been, and if he's learned anything, it's how to take a punch.
"I always played with the older kids," said Austin, who made the varsity at Lanphier as a freshman. "I think that's where toughness comes from for me, just getting beat up on when I was younger. When you love something, and you want to be great at it, I think you just give it your all. You're passionate about it. I think that's what it is for me."
A connection with former CMU assistant Kevin Gamble, also a Lanphier graduate, eventually helped Austin land at CMU, where he immediately meshed with the three returning starters, Shawn Roundtree Jr., Kevin McKay and David DiLeo, coming into the 2018-19 season.
"They brought me in like I was family," Austin said. "We all love to laugh, love to giggle. Pick on each other. It's just a really close, tight-knit group. I think that's why our chemistry is good on the court, because of how close we are off the court."
Austin has bought in, and his teammates have bought in to him. That was critical, CMU coach Keno Davis said, particularly with regard to Roundtree, the returning starter at point guard.
"I think we had a pretty good understanding of Larry's talent and how he would fit in with what we do on the court," Davis said. "But I think the chemistry that he has helped bring has even exceeded what we thought it would be. You never know with bringing in guys who are going to be impact players, who are going to be here one year, and try to gel the team. It really shows a lot about his character."
Austin recently turned 23, so he is older than most of his teammates; his experiences of having been at a number of stops – the inherent ups and downs of college athletics that one must learn to navigate – makes him much older in basketball years.
The combination of Austin and Roundtree, the seniors and often the voices in the locker room, has been invaluable, Davis said.
"They both do a great job of looking within, at looking at themselves, and at what they need to do to improve and not just the team and what everybody else has to do," Davis said. "(Their teammates) listen, and they try to take in what those guys have to say. They know how hard (Austin and Roundtree) work and the experience they have that they can learn from it.
"Larry has brought a combination of talent, of toughness, and of leadership, which has not only helped improve our team and our program, but has improved, really, our team chemistry."
Austin, a senior guard on the Chippewa men's team, leads the Mid-American Conference in assists at 5.7 per game and ranks sixth in the league in scoring (16.7 per). He has played a major role all season long, starting every game for the 20-8 Chippewas, and his contributions during CMU's four-game win streak and late-season surge are innumerable, particularly in light of the fact that his backcourt mate, Shawn Roundtree Jr., has missed the better part of the last two games with an injury.
Austin and the Chippewas play host to Toledo on Saturday (4:30 p.m.) in a MAC-West showdown. Toledo leads the division at 10-5, while the Chippewas are a game back at 9-6. A CMU win forges a first-place tie.
CMU – picked to finish last in the West in the preseason poll of league coaches and media who cover the conference -- is in the thick of it as the calendar flips from February to March.
And Austin, likewise, is at the epicenter of it, making the most of his one and only season in a Chippewa uniform after spending the early part of his college career at Xavier before transferring to Vanderbilt, from which he earned his bachelor's degree.
Austin saw significant, if spotty, playing time at both schools; but at CMU, he has blossomed as a starter in coach Keno Davis' uptempo system.
"It's fun playing here," said Austin, a native of Springfield, Ill. "We get up and down, we play fast, we get after it on the defensive end. We play with a lot of toughness, a lot of grit, a lot of passion. I'm playing the game with guys who want to win games, regardless of who's scoring the basketball. We're just a family and we just want to win, at the end of the day."
The end of the day, the end of a college career.
For Austin, that end looms, sometime in the next few weeks. It has been a long and winding road from his upbringing in Springfield to a commitment and then de-commitment to Tennessee, and then to Xavier, and to Vanderbilt and, finally, Mount Pleasant.
The 2018-19 season is the first since his days at Springfield's Lanphier High School that he knows he will be in the starting lineup; knows where he's going, if you will. He certainly knows where he's been, and if he's learned anything, it's how to take a punch.
"I always played with the older kids," said Austin, who made the varsity at Lanphier as a freshman. "I think that's where toughness comes from for me, just getting beat up on when I was younger. When you love something, and you want to be great at it, I think you just give it your all. You're passionate about it. I think that's what it is for me."
A connection with former CMU assistant Kevin Gamble, also a Lanphier graduate, eventually helped Austin land at CMU, where he immediately meshed with the three returning starters, Shawn Roundtree Jr., Kevin McKay and David DiLeo, coming into the 2018-19 season.
"They brought me in like I was family," Austin said. "We all love to laugh, love to giggle. Pick on each other. It's just a really close, tight-knit group. I think that's why our chemistry is good on the court, because of how close we are off the court."
Austin has bought in, and his teammates have bought in to him. That was critical, CMU coach Keno Davis said, particularly with regard to Roundtree, the returning starter at point guard.
"I think we had a pretty good understanding of Larry's talent and how he would fit in with what we do on the court," Davis said. "But I think the chemistry that he has helped bring has even exceeded what we thought it would be. You never know with bringing in guys who are going to be impact players, who are going to be here one year, and try to gel the team. It really shows a lot about his character."
Austin recently turned 23, so he is older than most of his teammates; his experiences of having been at a number of stops – the inherent ups and downs of college athletics that one must learn to navigate – makes him much older in basketball years.
The combination of Austin and Roundtree, the seniors and often the voices in the locker room, has been invaluable, Davis said.
"They both do a great job of looking within, at looking at themselves, and at what they need to do to improve and not just the team and what everybody else has to do," Davis said. "(Their teammates) listen, and they try to take in what those guys have to say. They know how hard (Austin and Roundtree) work and the experience they have that they can learn from it.
"Larry has brought a combination of talent, of toughness, and of leadership, which has not only helped improve our team and our program, but has improved, really, our team chemistry."
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's BasketballTamario Adley Video Feature
Thursday, March 05
MBB vs. Western Michigan Highlights
Monday, February 23
Men's Basketball Western Hype
Friday, February 20
Nathan Claerbaut Video Feature
Wednesday, February 18