Austin ready to get started with Edwardsburg cagers
Published 5:22 pm Wednesday, June 6, 2007
By By JEFF FISHER / Edwardsburg Argus
Edwardsburg new boys' basketball coach Steve Austin is ready and looking forward to his new challenge.
"I'm excited to get started," Austin said in a recent telephone interview. "This is a new start and I'm ready to go."
Coaching and teach at Edwardsburg appeals to Austin for many reasons.
"It's close to home," Austin replied. "There is a great administration here and great schools. They have a lot of things to offer here and I have heard a lot of good things."
Austin has in-laws who live in Edwardsburg. Steve and Dawn Austin have two children that attend Elkhart County schools.
The 52-year-old coaching veteran brings with him a lifetime marked by hardwood success in Indiana.
In 22 years as a head coach, his teams at South Bend, Ind. St. Joseph, Richmond (Ind.) and Northridge (Middlebury, Ind.) have gone a combined 318-197. He led St. Joe to two state final appearances and racked up 10 sectional titles, including five of the seven sectionals at Northridge during its 38-year existence.
In 11 seasons (1995-2006), Austin's Raiders went 160-93. His .630 winning percentage is the best in school history.
This past winter, he was an assistant at Wawasee, Ind.
He also made a mark in his playing days. He helped South Bend Adams reach the state championship game in 1973.
He is ready to bring that success to Edwardsburg.
"Hopefully, I can bring structure and experience," he said. "I've been coaching for a long time and I think I know what it takes to be a winner. You have to give the kids confidence and teach the fundamentals."
The Eddies have won only 17 games over the past three seasons and ended with an 11-game losing skid and Austin is ready to end that.
"We are going to set our goals high and we have to believe in ourselves," Austin said. "We have to set a slogan, with is PATH. P is for preparation, A is for accountability, T is for team effort and H is for heart, and these things will apply to everything."
Austin has met with the returning players and was impressed with their mannerisms as well as their will to win and told the kids that we are coming to win.
Austin, known as a hardworking and caring coach, already has big plans for his team over the summer, which will likely include participation in a league at the Elkhart Sports Center before implementing his system before the 2007-08 season begins.
"This will be a learning summer," he said. "Learning fundamentals and learning to work hard. Also, increasing confidence and grow as a family and rely on one another."
While he has always coached in Indiana, Austin knows about Michigan through taking his Northridge teams to camps at Western and Central Michigan and has also attended some games at Cassopolis. He has also scouted Brandywine and watched game film of various teams and is excited about coaching high school basketball in Michigan.
Austin would also like to see about developing some intra-state rivalries.
"I'd like to make Edwardsburg basketball a winning program, and look forward to building the program," Austin said. "Build interest back into Eddies basketball. Bring the fans back and I would like to see the kids wearing Edwardsburg basketball T-shirts all year round."