Austin Davis is back in Ann Arbor as a counselor at Camp Sanderson
There was a thread 2 days wondering if the tall blond man behind the mask on the end of the Michigan bench was really and truly Austin Davis. This MLive story mentions him as working under Jon Sanderson in some capacity. It doesn't say if he's a student (and could suit up with a year of eligibility left) or an employee. So the mystery continues.
The story is actually worth reading if you have a subscription. Basketball managers play the managers from their opponents throughout the season. There's a ranking system and EOY 68-team tournament. The final 8 teams are invited to the Final 4 to crown a Basketball Managers champion. There are rules for the tournament about ringers, but during the regular season, some do sneak in:
Michigan’s managers say they will resort to true ringers only if an opponent goes that route. If (former MSU player Matt) McQuaid takes the Crisler court the night of Feb. 28, Michigan’s managers said they will counter with Austin Davis, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound center who averaged 11 minutes per game for Michigan last season and is now working under strength coach Jon Sanderson.
The story is kind of behind a paywall. When I look it up on my Kindle, I can read the entire article. On my work computer it's a subscriber article.
February 4th, 2022 at 11:32 AM ^
The pride of ONSTED, MICHIGAN!
They finally got one.
February 4th, 2022 at 11:32 AM ^
I had read somewhere that Austin was ineligible since he played pro in Europe over the summer... or was that bad info?
February 4th, 2022 at 11:50 AM ^
I am the (secondhand) source on this one, but one of my family members from the greater Onsted area was surprised to run into him a few weeks after he left for Poland. He ended up playing with a pro team there for a few games but came home quickly. To the extent of what went 'wrong' I do not know, he told my source it wasn't for him and came home. Personally, I think it was a combo of missing everything with home, basketball wasn't the right situation and wanting to continue to work on his masters. If my source runs into him again soon I'll provide another update. I keep hoping his brother will blossom into a Big-Ten caliber player so we can have Ayden, "Little Country" Davis on the team in a few years.
February 4th, 2022 at 12:07 PM ^
I’ll pretend to be a first hand source- since my hand patted him on the back early in the season and said “Welcome back”. I am positioned courtside and belief he’s been at every home game at least. He stands near Sanderson during warmups and hands out the computer tracking devices, helps with the various vibrating muscle relaxing/invigorating thingees and looks to be an assistant trainer or conditioning guy. He doesn’t hang with the student managers and feed balls during shooting warmups. My two cents ...he’s tall and seems happy.
February 4th, 2022 at 12:46 PM ^
The basketball part in Poland was fine for him. It was the off the court living style, that and just being really far away made it something he didn’t want to keep doing. He enjoyed when it was basketball but everything else wasn’t a good fit for him. As far as his brother goes, he’s 6’7-6’8 soph. Iowa watched him play a couple weeks ago. Just as Austin was, Ayden is the biggest on the court and is constantly triple/quadruple teamed. Ayden is probably further ahead of Austin when Austin was a soph. What’s not clear right now, does Ayden have the desire that Austin had? Possible, but we’ll find out!
February 5th, 2022 at 1:26 PM ^
Of course IOWA would be interested in him.
February 4th, 2022 at 12:56 PM ^
As an aside, Poland is a beautiful country with a rich history and gorgeous women. On my list of places I would love to visit but probably will never be able to afford.
February 4th, 2022 at 1:32 PM ^
If you ever get the chance to go, you should take it! It definitely is a beautiful country, and most everyone under 40 speaks English as their second language. Even restaurant menus are printed in both Polish and English.
February 4th, 2022 at 4:09 PM ^
Just for the record restaurant menus are also printed in English almost everywhere in the world.
Re: Poles' love for the US: Poland is unlike other EU countries (basically all except Hungary) in that the previous president will not have damaged the opinions of that many of them. Poland under its current government might, for related reasons, be an uncomfortable place to live for someone who thrives in Ann Arbor. For someone who thrives in, say, rural North Carolina on the other hand...
February 4th, 2022 at 2:14 PM ^
Poland is great. Young Polish women are gorgeous and they are one of the few EU countries that have a high opinion of Americans. My only complaint is that smoking is still fairly common in the youth (yuck!).
Its worth the visit and not as expensive as you'd think (outside of Warsaw)
February 4th, 2022 at 3:01 PM ^
one of the few EU countries that have a high opinion of Americans.
I've traveled through much of Europe. Regardless of the country you're in, as long as you act like a vaguely civilized person, you're unlikely to encounter any hostility.
February 4th, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
I agree about hostility. I've never really come across it outside of a couple places in Asia and Latin America.
Typically, Americans who travel to the EU do have some money to do so, and that typically comes with enough decorum. We like to tip and doing so in the EU is very much welcomed.
With that being said, if you ask a typical European what they think of Americans, it's not glowing by any stretch...and I think that's unfair. I can think of a couple other countries whose tourist are far worse.
But Poland loves the USA!
February 4th, 2022 at 4:13 PM ^
I think what they think of the people in general is a much different question than what they think of the tourists. Everybody on the Continent hates British tourists because stag parties routinely destroyed things and puked everywhere in pre-corona times. But how they feel about British people will be more nuanced. It's similar for Americans, though perhaps in reverse, given that American tourists in Europe are often reverential (and happily throwing cash around).
February 4th, 2022 at 5:09 PM ^
Oh, plenty of Europeans have negative stereotypes about American tourists: the ugly American who demands US-style customer service, speaks only English (and loudly at that), and generally complains that things aren't exactly the same as in America.
I don't blame them - I've seen American tourists act like this, and it makes me cringe, too.
But you can demonstrate that you're not like that. The biggest things I've found are 1) make a little effort to speak the local language, even if just a few words, 2) don't be too loud and 3) don't be overly picky. If you're at a restaurant, what the menu says is what you'll get. Don't expect them to make a special substitution for you.
February 4th, 2022 at 5:29 PM ^
IMO. The stereotypes on American tourist in the EU are inaccurate and are largely driven by folklore and the media (including social media).
With at risk of getting super negged, I'll give you my thoughts on 2 countries that are far worse than Americans without actually stated the country. Lets see if you can guess.
Country 1: Newly developed middle class that can travel abundantly for the first time ever. Typically show up in large buses to popular destinations and eat everything in sight like locusts. They rarely (if ever) learn any local language and NEVER interact with local people.
Country 2: Legacy EU tourists that always thought they were above the EU. They may try to learn EU languages when traveling, but in reality they come to London or Amsterdam or Prague, and get drunk and try to claim superiority over folks based on some BS historical reference.
February 5th, 2022 at 2:38 PM ^
1. China?
2. Germany?
February 4th, 2022 at 2:27 PM ^
I lived there recently and it's definitely overlooked. Warsaw is pretty international but also was completely flattened during WWII, so it doesn't have the charm of, say, Krakow, which is a great visit. Polish people are awesome, the food is hearty and accessible to a westerner, and a pint of beer will cost you $2 at a pub. And yes, the women can be very attractive (and morally very conservative)
I imagine for Austin that transitioning to a small city in Poland during a pandemic was a huge culture shock. Even the third biggest city in the country where I lived was only 600k people.
February 4th, 2022 at 3:10 PM ^
I too wish to visit Poland, preferably in the spring.
February 4th, 2022 at 3:16 PM ^
You going to stop by on your way to Ukraine?
February 4th, 2022 at 12:58 PM ^
some of those international leagues are known to pull the bait n switch on American players. I knew a guy that left D league to go play in Russia. He was back after a month. They weren't paying what they promised, his apartment was a dump in a shitty neighborhood.
I'm not saying that was Big Country's experience, but I have heard that its not rare.
February 4th, 2022 at 1:50 PM ^
Had a friend who played MAC ball and then professionally in Europe for six or seven years. He ran into what you described, but also got unexpectedly put up in a beachside villa for a full season in Italy.
Playing abroad also just isn’t for everyone!
February 4th, 2022 at 10:19 PM ^
That’s a good summary of his experience
February 4th, 2022 at 11:45 AM ^
Love it. Welcome back big country in whatever capacity!
February 4th, 2022 at 11:53 AM ^
BIG COUNTRY!
February 4th, 2022 at 11:59 AM ^
The most crazy thing to me about this is Matt McQuiad is still lurking around El ready to hop on to a MSU manager team.
February 4th, 2022 at 12:07 PM ^
the chinless shooter....
February 4th, 2022 at 2:11 PM ^
I wonder if he's staying in Izzo's basement.
February 4th, 2022 at 12:11 PM ^
Camp Sanderson should show a pic of freshman Josh Asselin as Big Country's "Before pic".
February 4th, 2022 at 2:18 PM ^
Titled "Overtaking Asselin"
February 4th, 2022 at 12:34 PM ^
Having Davis back on campus is great. He clearly had a big impact on Hunter during his freshman year and was a very technical post big man during his 5th year. Having him as basically an extra guy who can help Juwan develop big men is beneficial
February 4th, 2022 at 1:12 PM ^
I was the OP on that thread a couple days ago. Thank you for finding the answer to my question!
February 4th, 2022 at 1:25 PM ^
Assuming he was allowed to have a 6th year, then I will be that guy and say, he should still be playing for us, over one of the incoming scholarships, or even a few 5th year guys. He earned it, and we needed him. An absolute joy to watch him play.
February 4th, 2022 at 3:18 PM ^
We need him. He should suit up.
Who's really going to know? Those 7 foot guys all look the same.
February 4th, 2022 at 5:38 PM ^
that's very cool to see Davis return to Michigan. He was definitely a guy that Coach trusted to give the team important minutes, often at critical times...very steady and heady player.
February 4th, 2022 at 7:26 PM ^
Big Country is Back! Big Back Country!