New Austin girls basketball coach ready to restore winning tradition
Apr. 11—The term "splash hire" gets thrown around too much in the coaching world, but when it comes to Austin's new girls basketball coach, it's a fitting term. Last week, the Black Bears made the hire of Mike Chase official.
Chase comes to Austin after previous coaching stops at Spain Park, Clay Chalkville and most recently Orange Beach. He brings with him a championship pedigree, with seven Elite Eight appearances, three Final Fours and two state championships As excited as the Black Bears are to have him, though, Chase is just as excited to be in Decatur. "Decatur has always been a basketball city as far as I'm concerned," Chase said.
"I started bringing my teams to the River City Classic in '99, and it was always the best tournament. The (Decatur) Daily covered it wall-to-wall and fans were always excited for it. "It also let you know how good your team was.
We were fortunate to win it a few times and we ended up making Final Fours runs those years. " Chase's hire adds another in what has been a string of big-time hires for Austin athletics in recent years. In addition to the success the Black Bears have already had in football, boys basketball and softball, they've also hired in the last two years state championship coach April Marsh, who led Austin to the Final Four in volleyball this past season, and former Decatur Daily Coach of the Year Preston Potter, who has the Austin baseball team with a winning record in his second season.
Chase said that commitment to athletics is what sold him on Austin High School. "There were two people that were important in me coming here, and that was Marvin Chou, the city's athletic director, and Demond Garth, the Austin principal," Chase said. "They gave me the best interview I've ever had and really sold me on the vision they had, not just for girls basketball, but for all of athletics.