Austin's hoops love reignited by move

By: JOHN MAFFEI - Staff Writer | Tuesday, January 8, 2008 12:01 AM PST ∞

Craig Austin had to come home to rediscover his love for the sport he has played nearly all his life.

A force since he was a youngster, the 6-foot-10 Austin led Carlsbad High to the CIF San Diego Section Division I boys basketball championship in 2002. Then he was a major factor when El Camino won the same championship in 2004.

That led to a scholarship offer from Arizona State. As a sophomore at ASU, he played in 25 games, averaging 2.8 points -- including a career-high 21 against Southern Utah -- and 1.6 rebounds.

But basketball had lost its luster.

"Basketball had been fun all my life, but it wasn't fun anymore," Austin said. "I was down, I was depressed, and I knew it.

"So I decided I wasn't going to play. I was going to stay in Arizona and just go to school."

But after two months away from the sport, Austin realized "how much I missed basketball and San Diego."

That's when the coaches at Point Loma Nazarene called.

"I liked what I heard, then visited the school and it was amazing," Austin said. "The Point Loma campus is the best recruiting tool ever -- the ocean view, the breeze.

"The biggest thing, though, was ASU wasn't my kind of place. I loved the coaches and some of the players. But some people aren't into partying and drinking.

"Point Loma is a much better fit for me."

Austin, a junior, voluntarily sat out last season, but hasn't missed a beat this season. On an NAIA team that is 12-1 and has five players averaging between 14.7 and 8.5 points a game, Austin is averaging 10.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and leads the Sea Lions with 21 blocked shots.

"We have a tall team (with Austin at 6-10, a 6-7 player, a 6-6 player and five players at 6-5), so I don't always have to play center," Austin said. "I'm kind of a center/forward. Depending on the opponent, I'll play the low block against big teams, but I'll play a wing against smaller teams that want to run.

"The key for us is running the floor, beating teams down the floor with our quickness. The coaches ask us to go as hard as we can for as long as we can. So I'm in the best shape of my life because I don't want to leave the floor."

Austin especially enjoys playing on the same team with former North County standouts Nick Corso (Santa Fe Christian) and Kevin McGuire (Calvin Christian).

Corso led Santa Fe Christian to CIF San Diego Section Division V titles in 2003 and 2004. McGuire was the big man inside when Calvin Christian won the same title in 2005.

"Everybody remembers Nick because he was dropping 40 points a game in high school," Austin said. "And Kevin played on some good teams.

"Kevin doesn't play as much as he'd like, but he's a big guy (6-6, 260 pounds) and gives me all I can handle in practice. He's a big key to our success. I wouldn't be nearly the player I am without Kevin. And we've become very good friends, along with Nick.

"This is a very unselfish team, a group that is pretty close. We don't care who scores.

"And I'm finding out the NAIA is a very underrated level, with a lot of NCAA Division I (bounce-back players) who know how to play basketball."

If he could do it over again, Austin said, he would have chosen Point Loma Nazarene out of high school. Then he hedged.

"Out of high school, every player wants to go to a Division I school, a Pac-10 school, if for nothing else than to impress his friends," Austin said. "Looking back, I should have gone to Point Loma, but if I had, I would have always wondered if I could play at the Division I level.

"Now I know I can, but I'm also at the place I want to be."

Where the Sea Lions want to be at the end of the season is in the NAIA playoffs. With Austin watching last season, Point Loma was a win away from playing in the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City.

"The goal is to take that next step." Austin said.

Sibling rivalry

Brothers Nick (Santa Fe Christian) and Kris Corso (La Costa Canyon) will meet on the court for the first time as collegians when Kris' Cal Baptist team visits Point Loma Nazarene in a key Golden State Athletic Conference game today at 7:30 p.m.

Kris, a freshman, has played in eight games for a Cal Baptist team that is 10-0. Nick is averaging 6.5 points a game for a Point Loma team that is 12-1 and has won nine in a row.

Men's basketball

Kenny Lawson (Vista), a redshirt freshman at Creighton, was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week after scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds against Houston Baptist, scoring 13 points with four rebounds against North Carolina Central, and finishing the week with nine points and three steals against Arkansas-Little Rock. In the three home wins, Lawson hit 12-of-17 shots from the floor and 13-of-19 free throws. For the season, Lawson is averaging 7.0 points and 2.7 rebounds for a team that is 9-3.

Navy senior guard Greg Sprink (El Camino), who scored 26 points against San Diego State last month, is averaging a team-leading 19.0 points and 5.6 rebounds. He scored 33 points (one shy of his career high) with nine rebounds, three assists, a steal and a blocked shot in an 85-83 win over St. Francis (N.Y.) last week. He was named the Patriot League Player of the Week for that effort. He has been the team's leading scorer in nine of 14 games and the leading rebounder in seven of 14.

Lorenzo Keeler (Escondido) is coming off the bench to average 8.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists at Cal Poly. He's shooting 36.4 percent on 3-pointers (20-of-35) and 89.4 percent (25-of-28) from the free throw line.

Andrew Olson (Rancho Bernardo), the NCAA Division III Player of the Year last season for national champion Amherst, is averaging 10.5 points and 2.3 rebounds for a team that's off to a 7-2 start. He leads the team with 51 assists.

Todd Lowenthal (Poway), who played in 15 games as a freshman at Hawaii last season, has transferred to UC Davis and is redshirting.

Bethel Hailemichael (La Costa Canyon) is averaging 4.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 18.1 minutes as a sophomore at Cal Lutheran. Freshman Gregg Grimm (Rancho Buena Vista) is a reserve on a team that is 9-1.

Ryan Trammel (El Camino) is a key reserve at Dominican University in Northern California.

State finalist

Meghan Ward (Escondido), a softball player at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., was one of five finalists for North Dakota Sportswoman of the Year as named by the Bismarck Tribune.

Ward was a third-team Division II All-American after hitting .441 with 32 RBIs, 14 doubles and eight steals in 2007. She had 177 at-bats without a strikeout.

The award went to Rebecca Kielpinski, a North Dakota native, who averaged 14.5 points and 10.8 rebounds on the Alaska-Anchorage basketball team and was a third-team Division II All-American.

Sailing

Matthew Rucker (Fallbrook) is the captain on the Naval Academy's off-shore sailing team.

In the fall season, the Midshipmen won the prestigious 2007 Kennedy Cup, winning six of eight races against eight opponents on Chesapeake Bay on a 44-foot sloop. That victory earned the team the right to represent the United States at the 2008 U.S. Student Yachting World Cup in France.

Earlier in the season, the Midshipmen won the McMillan Cup Intercollegiate Big Boat East Coast Championship, also on Chesapeake Bay, as well as the Maryland Governor's Cup.

The spring sailing season starts in March.

Wrestling

Kurt Klimek (Carlsbad), a heavyweight, is off to a 10-2 start with a pair of pins for Cal State Fullerton. Matt Mathling (Vista), a 197-pounder, is 9-4 with five pins. The Titans boast wins over Pac-10 foes Oregon and Oregon State this season.

Men's volleyball

Bryan Skiles (Mt. Carmel), a 2007 NCAA Division III All-American, is the team captain at UC Santa Cruz and had four kills in the season opener against UC San Diego. Austin Einhorn (La Costa Canyon), a sophomore middle blocker, had 13 kills in that match.

Calvin Ross (Santa Fe Christian), a 6-8 freshman middle blocker, had seven kills for UC San Diego in a season-opening win over UC Santa Cruz. Adam Levins (San Pasqual), a transfer from Cal State Northridge, is also on the UCSD roster.

Ryan Adams (San Marcos), a 6-foot-5 junior opposite, had five kills in the first two matches of the season for Cal State Northridge. Dan Tice (Mission Hills), a 6-8 redshirt freshman middle blocker, is also on the team.

Jeff Woodley (Poway) had a kill in UCLA's season-opening win over Ball State.

Women's basketball

Nikki Oakland (El Camino) is having a fine senior season at Dayton. She's the leading scorer (14.0) and rebounder (7.7) on a team that is 14-2. She has been the Flyers' leading scorer in eight games, including 32 against Akron, and the top rebounder in 10 games, including 11 against St. Francis, Eastern Michigan and Clemson. She's shooting 57 percent from the field.

Chelsey Armacost (Rancho Bernardo) is averaging 11.1 points and 2.2 rebounds for a Sonoma State team that is 8-2. She had 18 points -- one off her career high -- in a game last week against Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Lauren Aadland (Carlsbad) is averaging 4.8 points and 3.0 rebounds while coming off the bench for William and Mary.

Elana Fogel (Torrey Pines) is a key reserve on an NYU team that is 8-0 and ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Division III.

Jenna Breite (Mt. Carmel) is a key reserve as a freshman at Cal State Fullerton.

Women's soccer

Becky Willis (San Pasqual), a junior midfielder at Redlands, was named a second-team Division III All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Described as a tenacious and energetic player, she anchored the Bulldogs' midfield and finished the season with five goals, including a pair of game winners, and two assists. Redlands finished the season 9-6-3.

Women's tennis

Julie Chao (Westview) and Rebecca Lin (Torrey Pines) are key members of a Rice team that concluded the fall season with a good run at the ITA Southwest Regional. Chao was named Conference USA Player of the Month for September. The Owls open the spring season on Jan. 25.

Cheyenne Inglis (La Costa Canyon) is a key member of the team at Cal State Fullerton.

-- John Maffei's Alumni Report appears every other Monday through the college season. He can be reached at (760) 740-3547, by fax at (760) 740-5045 or at jmaffei@nctimes.com. Readers are urged to submit information on former North County prep athletes.