Story originally appeared: March 7th, 2018
By: Nate Calvin
When Wauseon senior center Austin Rotroff began his high school career, reaching 1,000 career points someday was the furthest thing from his mind. But with a thunderous dunk in the second quarter of the Indians Sectional final win over Celina, Rotroff joined that elite group of Indians who have scored 1,000 points in their career. Austin is just the fourth player in the storied history of the Indians program to reach the mark, joining Cory Griggs (1376), current Wauseon head coach Chad Burt (1333), and Jeff Bridges (1107).
“To join some of the all-time greats in school history as a part of the 1,000 point club means a lot to me and I’m very excited”, said Rotroff when talking about the accomplishment. The fact that he was eight points away from the milestone entering their tournament game on March 2nd wasn’t a distraction for him or his teammates. “My focus was on the game. We need to come out and play well as a team so that was my main goal”, said Rotroff. “I knew that if I played my game the points would come eventually so I didn’t let that distract me.”
When asked about highlights of his high school career, the team’s run to the Division II State Championship game was at the top of the list. “The tournament run last year as a whole was definitely the biggest highlight. We feel like we have unfinished business from last year being runner-up. We feel like we have the potential to reach our goal this year but we have to take it one game at a time”, Rotroff elaborated.
While Wauseon has lofty team goals, Austin has had his fair share of individual honors as well. He has been the NWOAL Player of the Year the last two seasons, was named first team all-league as a sophomore and this season added a District 7 Player of the Year to his impressive list of postseason awards. The recognition he has received points to his hard work and the development of his game, something that impresses head coach Chad Burt. “Austin is a basketball player in every sense of the word.”
“He loves the game and has worked tremendously hard to improve himself as a player. His athleticism has improved, and his overall feel for the game is outstanding”, commented Burt when pointing out some areas he as seen the most improvement from Austin.
Another aspect that has developed for Austin that the Wauseon head coach mentioned was how Austin has become more of a vocal leader over the past year. “The kids respond to him and respect him due to the fact that he goes hard in practice every day”, added Burt. “Austin is the first 1,000 point scorer I’ve ever coached and I understand that coaching a player like Austin Rotroff is truly an unique experience”, he continued.
After Austin’s time at Wauseon is done, he will be taking his basketball prowess to Division I Duquense University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While Austin said overall the recruiting experience was fun, despite being stressful at times, and he visited many schools and met numerous great people he felt Duquense was a good fit for him for several reasons.
“It’s a great fit for a few reasons. It is just under four hours away and staying close to home was big for me. I am also going to major in Sports Marketing and there are a ton of opportunities for internships in Pittsburgh with the Penguins, Steelers, and Pirates. From a basketball standpoint coach Dambrot has a history of winning and building great programs and he also utilizes his post players very well”, he explained.
His current coach believes you will see big things out of Austin at the next level. “Duquense has a great coaching staff that will help him get even better. He will add strength, weight, and his skills will continue to grow. I truly think that the sky is the limit with Austin’s future as a basketball player”, Burt expressed.
But before his college days can begin, Austin Rotroff and his Wauseon Indian teammates would like nothing less than a return trip to the Schottenstein Center on the campus of The Ohio State University and another opportunity to cut the nets down as Division II state champions.
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com