Mario Austin

Mario Trevon Austin (born February 26, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player.

Mario Austin
Personal information
Born (1982-02-26) February 26, 1982
Livingston, Alabama
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight264 lb (120 kg)
Career information
High schoolSumter County (York, Alabama)
CollegeMississippi State (2000–2003)
NBA draft2003: 2nd round, 36th overall pick
Selected by the Chicago Bulls
Playing career2003–2015
PositionPower forward / center
Career history
2003CSKA Moscow
2004Jackson Rage
2004–2005Lauretana Biella
2005–2007Hapoel Jerusalem
2007–2008Benetton Treviso
2008Beşiktaş Cola Turka
2009Fujian Xunxing
2009–2010Meridiano Alicante
2010Atléticos de San Germán
2010–2011BC Dnipro
2011Titanes del Distrito Nacional
2011Shahrdari Gorgan
2011Kyiv
2012–2013Al Kuwait
2013–2014Kazma
2015KB Peja
2015Deportivo Valdivia
Career highlights and awards

College career

Austin played 3 seasons at Mississippi State under head coach Rick Stansbury. He is well known for hitting a clutch 3-point shot in the first 3-point attempt of his career at Mississippi State in a 2002 win over Kentucky.[1] Austin was named second team All-SEC that season (2001–02).

Austin returned to the Bulldogs in 2002–03 and was named first team All-SEC. Austin declared for the 2003 NBA draft at the season, choosing not to return to Mississippi State for his senior year.[1]

Professional career

After being drafted 36th overall in the 2003 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls, Austin left to play overseas, starting his professional career with CSKA Moscow, but was released after an injury before playing an official game. Afterwards he signed with the Jackson Rage of the WBA where he spent the remainder of the season.


In 2004, he signed with Italian team Lauretana Biella and in 2005 he was with Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. who got sponsored by billionaire Arkadi Gaydamak shortly before, he quickly became one of the dominant players in the team and led it to the Uleb Cup semi-finals and to the Israeli League Finals

In the summer of 2007, he joined the Bulls for the 2007 NBA Summer League[2] and later, he signed with Benetton Treviso.[3]

On July 18, 2008, Austin signed with Beşiktaş Cola Turka.[4]

At the start of the 2009–10 season, Austin was signed by Meridiano Alicante, but was released on January 21, 2010.[5] On April 10, 2010, Austin was signed by the Atléticos de San Germán of the Puerto Rican league but was waived the next month.[6]

On August 13, 2010, Austin signed with Ukrainian club BC Dnipro.[7] On April 2, 2011, the Bulls traded his draft rights to the Utah Jazz as part of the Carlos Boozer sign-and-trade.[8]

On October 31, 2011, Austin signed with BC Kyiv.[9]

On November 3, 2012 Austin signed with Al Kuwait.[10] On November 9, 2013, he signed with Kuwaiti club Kazma.[11]

On February 3, 2015, Austin signed with KB Peja of the Siguria Superleague[12] and on October 9, Austin signed with Deportivo Valdivia of the Liga Nacional de Básquetbol de Chile (LNB).[13] On November 14, he was waived by Deportivo Valdivia.[14][15]

Throughout his 12 years of professional basketball, Austin never played in an NBA game. Making him 1 of 11 players from the 2003 NBA Draft Class to never play in the league.

References
  1. "Today in MSU History: Mario Austin's Three". ForWhomtheCowbellTolls.com. SBNation. January 5, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  2. "2015 Las Vegas Summer League Basketball". InsideHoops.com. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  3. "Mario Austin, biennale con la Benetton". Legabasket.com (in Italian). August 30, 2007. Retrieved August 30, 2007.
  4. "Beşiktaş Pivotunu Buldu". BJK.com (in Turkish). July 18, 2008. Retrieved July 18, 2008.
  5. "Mario Austin and Meridiano Alicante part ways". The Hoops Market. January 21, 2010. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  6. "Atléticos de San Germán sign Ernest Brown to replace Mario Austin". The Hoops Market. May 29, 2010. Retrieved May 29, 2010.
  7. "Steve Burtt and Mario Austin join Dnipro". Eurobasket.com. August 3, 2010. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
  8. "An Unnecessarily Exhaustive Guide To The NBA Prospects Of The Unsigned NBA Draft Picks". shamsports.com. April 2, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  9. "BC Kyiv announces Mario Austin". Sportando.com. October 31, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  10. "Mario Austin signs with Al Kuwait". Court-Side.com. November 3, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  11. "Mario Austin firma in Kuwait". BasketNet.it. November 9, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  12. "Mario Austin (ex Kazma) signs at Peja". Asia-Basket.com. February 3, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  13. "Mario Austin deals with Valdivia". Court-Side.com. October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  14. "Durrell Summers se integra al CDV". DeportivoValdivia.cl (in Spanish). November 13, 2015. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  15. "Una semana más de espera para la LNB". EconomiaYNegocios.cl (in Spanish). November 14, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
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