By CEDRIC COLLINGE, Student Reporter
From Southern California, where the sun shines all the time, to tornado valley Oklahoma, Austin Klug had a big change of scenery the past couple years.
The question I asked him was how you leave a beautiful state like California to come to a little town in plain ‘ole Oklahoma? Basketball was his immediate answer. Basketball and the Northwestern Oklahoma State program had it all for him.
In Riverside, California Austin relied on the beautiful outdoors and a basketball to get him where he wanted to be. Height is usually something coaches look for in players and he was right up that alley standing at a whopping 6 foot, 9 inches. Austin’s father, Austin and his brother all belong to the 6 foot, 5 inches and above club. So he thanks his father for giving him a great trait to have, so the pursuit of college basketball would be that much easier.
Austin took his talents to a little further south beach California, Mt. San Jacinto College where he had the opportunity to play junior college basketball. He became a standout player in his conference, nearly averaging a double-double over his two years of attendance.
Austin said, “Everyone wants to go D-1 (Division 1), but it just didn’t work out the way I had hoped. Coach Brad Franz spoke so highly of NWOSU, I couldn’t turn him down.” Brad Franz was Northwestern men’s basketball head coach at the time and did not want to pass up on a player like Austin. The 6 foot, 9 inch big man had only one offer up until Franz snagged him to aid the Rangers basketball team for the next two years.
During the 2015-2016 season Austin helped lead the men’s basketball team to a 9-win season his first year. His senior season is where he made his presence known, leading the team as senior captain to a 12-win season just barely missing a spot in the conference tournament. Austin spoke highly of his senior year, “My senior year here in Alva will be unforgettable, from the team to the whole community. I’ll cherish it forever.”
Austin will graduate this spring 2017 with a degree in Criminal Justice. Curious as can be I do not meet many criminal justice major, so I asked him what his plan was after he graduates. He replied, “I want to get my degree then as soon as I can open my own food truck here in Alva that serves good cheap food at all hours of the day.”