ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The Seward County Community College Saints basketball team will have a new face at its helm this coming season.
It was announced late last month Austin Downing will be leading the program, and as he tells it, athletics has been in his blood for a long time.
“My family's been very heavily involved in athletics my whole life, so I inherited that through osmosis. My grandfather, Matthew 'Chic' Downing, was drafted by the New York Knicks in 1972, my uncle played at Maryland, one of my cousins played at Missouri State, and I could really go on and on,” Downing said. “I'm very familiar with this league through my cousins playing in it and then being an assistant coach the past couple years. I'm very thankful to have had some great mentors in my life – I've always been surrounded by good coaches, other good players and good people, and all of that has helped mold me into what I am today. My grandfather was everything to me when I was growing up, and he actually passed away the night before my senior night game, and it was REALLY tough not having him walk with me then. I've heard so, so many stories about him throughout the years from former fellow players and coaches and other people he knew, and it's amazing knowing how he touched so many lives even this many years after he's passed. In fact, at my business, there's a photo of him holding baby me in the air with one hand. I knew I didn't want that legacy to fade away, and I had the idea of going into coaching, so it was easy for me to decide what I wanted to do.”
Ultimately, that led to working with youth, Downing said.
“After I finished college, I started my own player development company and started doing free camps and clinics for youth players, and that grew and grew. I moved that to Lawrence, which everyone knows as a big basketball town, and I was thankful there to work with a lot of athletes at all levels,” Downing said. “That business was growing really well, and then I got a call from the staff at Barton Community College to do some player development work there, and then my second year there, I was promoted to an assistant coach, then I later moved up to head assistant coach. In general, I knew I wanted to get into a job I could be really passionate about, so I started off doing some free camps and other work with youth, and that's why I still do what I do today, and I know my grandpa’s still watching over me. The work my grandpa did, that's what inspires me every day and pushes me to do what I do. We're going to work hard to get the SCCC program back to where it's supposed to be, and I'm looking forward to everything.”
And all of that work, Downing said, led him to his upcoming new role at SCCC.
“I'd seen the job opening and I talked with my boss some about whether it would be good for me to apply and I wanted mainly to look into the position and see if it was what I really wanted. I also talked to my family and got their thoughts, and I ultimately decided to apply and see what ended up happening, because the worst-case scenario was I wouldn't get it,” Downing said. “So I applied and then played the waiting game, and I later found out Cody [Cole] had spoken to my boss and asked him some questions about what I'd done with the program at Barton CC, and then the SCCC staff went through their process and everything else. Then, later on, Cody reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in officially interviewing, and I was really excited, but at that time, Barton CC was getting ready to go to the NJCAA Tournament and go through all of that, so I had to take a day off during that downtime to do the interview with Cody and Brad [Bennett], and me and my girlfriend, Shannon, had a great time when we were here at that time. We really felt like Liberal felt like family already, and we were already getting a lot of positive vibes. Barton CC is a great place to be, but I knew I was ready for that next step. After that interview process, there was another round of the waiting game and us playing in the NJCAA Tournament, and then after all of that, Cody ultimately reached out to and let me know I'd gotten the position. And I remember it was a Sunday evening because when I got Cody's call, I was getting ready to give my little boy a bath, and I knew that call would be either really exciting or rather deflating. I was really happy to get the news and I was happy to accept the position. My entire family's been involved in athletics in some capacity basically my entire life, so my goal has been to be a head coach by the time I turned 30, and I'm 27 now, so I'm really blessed to be in this position and I couldn't be more thankful to the SCCC athletic staff, and I can't wait to get to work.”
In his new role, Downing said he is looking forward to the community engagement.
“Most importantly, I'm looking forward to engaging in the community. Liberal's going to be new territory for me and my family, so there'll definitely be an adjustment there since we'll need to get to know the town better when we get moved here,” Downing said. “Everyone I've met has been friendly and accepting so far, and I hope that will continue as I get myself more established in town, and I think that will translate onto the court. I want the program as a whole to be more visible in the community, whether it's through camps or attending youth events or whatever, because that support is so, so important. I'm excited to get to Liberal officially and start building some of those relationships and maybe even inspiring some kids' athletic dreams for the future. I also need to be planning on getting my family here and getting everyone settled – we found a great house, but now I want to look into the right schools and daycare and everything else. My stepson is autistic, so it's important for us to have a good support system for him and making sure he's comfortable, and my other little one is only 15 months old and is just starting to run around and get into everything. I do want to make sure they're happy and comfortable here, because they've done so much for me in my career already. There is still some time before the season starts, and it'll be August or so when the guys start making their way back to campus for the start of class and all of that, and I'm already working the phones in terms of recruitment and working some of those connections, so I'm definitely going to be super busy making sure everything starts out smoothly. I can't wait to meet everyone and have my family also meet everyone, I think it'll be great being in town.”
Downing said he is also excited to start working with the team and new staff.
“First things first, we have to find the right guys. I know there are a lot of basketball players who can score and are tall and fast, but at the end of the day, our job as coaches is to evaluate character and make sure I get the right guys on the team, those guys who will want to buy in to changing the program's culture,” Downing said. “I'm also looking for a good assistant who will help me represent the program well and do things the way they're supposed to. I also want to be involved with the youth a lot, because that's what led me to this new role, working with that age group, so I don't want to just stop what got me here just because I'm with a bigger program. I still have a lot to learn and a lot to do, and I'm very thankful for the support system I have, because there are some coaches I've worked with in the past who I can get in touch with if I ever have any questions or concerns. I also want to make sure my guys are actually going to class and staying on top of their grades and actually getting their education, because that's the most important thing – I was always taught you need to take care of the 'student' stuff before taking care of the 'athlete' stuff, because the 'athlete' stuff is more of a privilege. I want to hold the guys to a higher standard, and that's definitely something I'll be carrying from my former coaches and bosses. If you're not successful off the court, you won't be successful on the court.”
Overall, Downing said, he is ready to get to work.
“I'm very thankful for the staff at SCCC and to the community of Liberal for placing their trust in me as a first-year head coach,” Downing said. “The support I've received so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and the amount of calls and texts I've gotten is just unbelievable. I'm very grateful for the opportunity, and I'm excited to get going.”
