The world of basketball is a space Austin Moutry has been surrounded by from a very young age. For this Milwaukee, Wisconsin native, playing the sport at the highest level was something he was determined to do growing up. From playing throughout his time at Dominican High School to competing in the AAU basketball circuit with Wisconsin Playground Elite, Austin continued to work towards his goal of playing professionally. It was during his time in college though, at the University of Dubuque, that he began to evaluate opportunities beyond the game. But for Austin, one thing was for certain: he wanted to remain immersed in the world of sports. After his freshman year, Austin transferred to Marquette University—where he pursued a degree in business—and began to explore other areas within the industry. It was only up from there. At Marquette, Austin joined the men's basketball program as a student manager and dove into the world of player development, skills training, and scouting; an experience that not only fostered lifelong relationships with coaches and players during his time there, but also uncovered the array of career opportunities available. Upon graduating from Marquette, Austin pursued his master's degree at Vanderbilt University and was determined to dive deeper into the realm of coaching and player development. Sure enough, he did just that. Throughout his time at Vanderbilt, Austin worked as a graduate assistant with the men's basketball program and continued to learn about the business side of the industry. Shortly after, he joined the operations team with VSL Properties to cover the NBA Summer League in Vegas before embarking on his journey with the NCAA. Currently, Austin is a Men's Basketball Championships & Alliances Coordinator at the NCAA and works with a team to run every facet of the NCAA Tournament—including operations, on-site logistics, selections, and strategic partnerships. As he continues his career in the industry, Austin is excited to explore all the different realms within the game further; while also helping the next generation of sport professionals along their journeys in the space.
Let’s dive into your time at Marquette and Vanderbilt—working with their men's basketball programs. Could you tell us a little bit more about your experiences with each institution?
Yeah! At Marquette, I was transitioning from being a player so it was kind of a unique situation. We had maybe eight to ten managers, but I was the only one that had played at the college level. I give credit to Coach Wojo and that entire staff for just giving me an opportunity to kind of branch out and take more of a nontraditional manager route. Of course I did everything from helping with scheduling to video to laundry, but at the same time, I got a lot of good on-court experience and a lot of good help. One thing that really helped me once I got to my senior year was…one of our assistants, Dwayne Killings—who was actually new that year—gave me an opportunity to help him with a scouting project. That was something that really opened my eyes and also helped me realize: “Hey, I want to continue to do this and stay in this realm.”
I did a lot at Marquette; really got cool with a lot of the different players, built strong relationships with them throughout that time, and really gained their trust because we got a lot of work in and different things like that. Then, moving on to Vanderbilt once I graduated from Marquette, I wanted to stay in that space so I reached out to a couple of coaches that I knew. It was actually Coach Chris Carrawell who put me in contact with Jerry Stackhouse—who's the Head Coach at Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball. I was really excited about that. Being able to work for a former NBA player and legend was great, you know? There, I got to expand (my) knowledge even more. I was on the scout team there, we practiced every single day, and I really got that game experience. Also, we were attached to a coach. Every time that they had a scouting report, and it was their scout, I was able to help—whether it was video, scout team, or things of that nature. It really gave me some more hands-on experience and taught me the business of this game. From (there), I was able to get the opportunity to work NBA Summer League in Vegas which showed me everything there was about this game at the next level. Both of those experiences were really good. Like I said, if I wouldn't have made that tough decision to stop playing and transfer to Marquette, I don't think I would be here at this moment. They were both really good experiences.
That’s awesome! Tell us about your time working in the NBA Summer League. You transitioned from the player development side to more of the operations realm. What was that experience like for you?
At NBA Summer League, I was in the operations team with VSL Properties—which is the Vegas Summer League Properties. A lot of people don't know this…the NBA’s name is on Summer League, but internally it's VSL that really runs it with HallPass Media. Working with them, I got to do everything from operations to management to taking care of the high-profile guests—whether you had GMs or agents. That really opened my eyes that there was a whole other world. There was a lot that was going on in college, and I enjoyed my time there, but seeing that different side of it (at NBA Summer League) was really eye-opening and helped me shape where I wanted to go in the future. That's kind of why I decided to take this next route and just see something else. I think it's all about meeting different people and really building your network. I think that's the main thing to really thrive in this industry.
Take us through that transition from college into the business side of sports. What were some challenges that you faced early on and how did you work to overcome them?