“When you hit that note of everybody being in sync, it takes things to another level.”
Austin Parkinson, the head coach of women’s basketball at Indiana University - Purdue University Indiana, sits down with us in this episode of the 35,000 feet podcast and gives us insight into his journey as a basketball coach. He gives us insight into the 2019-2020 season, growing up in a basketball family, and some of his favorite travel memories!
In this episode, we discuss:
How this past season went for IUPUI Women’s Basketball team (0:20)
How Coach Parkinson got into coaching (3:55)
Austin’s favorite travel experience (6:48)
One thing that no one knows about Austin (9:34)
Austin’s advice to athletes wanting to play in college (13:07)
Austin’s next adventure (16:56)
The Highs And Lows Of The Past Season For IUPUI Women’s Basketball Team
Morgan: Hi, guys. Welcome back. It's Morgan. Today, I'm sitting down with Coach Austin. Thanks so much for joining us.
Austin: Yeah. Appreciate you having me.
Morgan: Well, perfect. We're excited to hear from you and hear about your story. So just to dive into this, one of the first questions I wanted to ask you is, can you tell us about the current highs and lows of your season?
Austin: Yeah, a pretty crazy emotional roller coaster for the last, I'd say, three weeks. Our program has never won the regular-season title ever, before this year. And so, we did that. We accomplished that. We were the number one seed going into our conference tournament. And if you win your conference tournament, you have an opportunity to go to the NCAA tournament. And again, that's something that'd never been done before.
We played that tournament in Indianapolis. We won that, I think it was last Tuesday. And when we won that, it was an unbelievable experience, confetti flying, cutting down the nets. And I told everybody my last memory was, I walked into the locker room afterwards to address the team and they doused me with water, and it was a massive celebration.
And then, fast forward 48 hours later, we'd given our kids a couple of days off before we started practice for the NCAA tournament, and I was actually doing an interview similar to this one. When I got done with the interview, I looked down at my phone and all our players, or most of our players had texted me and said, Hey, coach, the NCAA tournament's canceled. And this day and age, obviously, information travels differently. So a lot of times in this case, you'd like to be the one to inform your players. And with social media, they let me know.
And it was really tough, because our kids were looking forward to that Monday selection show and seeing their name on ESPN, and then playing in the tournament. And it felt like a real gut punch. And I think I heard it on Scott Van Pelt the other night, that most athletes, when you play a game or a sport, you know you either win or lose, there's a potential for your season or career to end. And when you're sitting on the couch at three in the afternoon, you don't expect that to happen. So a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but our team was grateful we even got to play our conference tournament.
Morgan: Wow. Well, and it sounds like you guys did awesome. It shows that your hard work is paying off. Is there something that you'd say you've been working on the most to help you win that championship?
Austin: Yeah. I think the thing that people, and myself included, lose sight of is sometimes we get fixed on the results and not the process. And you want something so bad that you lose of what's going to get you there. And so, we spent a lot of time during the course of this year talking about focusing on one day at a time, one practice at a time, one game at a time. That being our focus and not concerned with an end result. And even when we got to the conference tournament, the day of, we talked about, we're not concerned about cutting nets down or hosting trophies, we want to, let's play our best game of basketball.
And a funny story I've told people is when it was about four games to go on the regular season, we had won a game at Wright State and we clenched a share of the regular season title. And we walked in the locker room and had our normal deal, but we told our team, "Hey, guess what? You just clenched the first, at least, share of the conference title. And they all looked at us like we were crazy. They had no idea. Nobody in the room had any idea that we'd done that. And it goes back to the buy-in of one day at a time, one practice at a time. So their focus was so solely on that, that they weren't concerned with the results. And so, it was kind of a surprise and we had a chance to tell them.
Austin Parkinson’s Start In Coaching
Morgan: Oh, I love that. It shows that the little things add up. I love that focus too. Wow. Well, I love hearing about coaches and the highs and lows of their seasons, because it shows the work ethic and the effort that goes into it. And so, I'm curious, how did you get to be a coach?
Austin: Well, I come from a basketball family. My grandfather was an All-American for Adolf Rupp at the University of Kentucky. My dad is the all-time assist leader and recently inducted in the Purdue Hall of Fame. And then, I played college basketball for the legendary coach Gene Keady at Purdue University. And I knew I wanted to be a coach since I was in fifth grade. It's something I was always been passionate about.
When I graduated school, I could have gone on and played overseas, but I knew I wanted to get right into coaching and I started my career path. And I was on the men's side for a long time, working my way up, and then I was an assistant at IUPUI for two years on the men's side. Going into my third year, a strange thing happened. The women's program, they fired the coach four days before the first practice and there was a lot of turmoil. Their team had been losing, just a lot of stuff had been going on. In fact, there was a USA Today article about it. And they ended up asking me, they said, "Hey, would you be the interim coach for the year?"
And we've had a lot of success. We've had, seven out of last eight years, we've won 20 games. But I always tell people, even though we only won four games that first year, you could write a Disney movie about it and Disney would come back and be like, Oh, that's not believable. We can't write it. So it's one of those things, that first year was a lot of bumps in the road, but it's probably a lot more satisfaction knowing where we were and where we're at now.
Morgan: Oh, I love that. No, it sounds like you're doing amazing things there because, well, in that conference tournament, you had to work so hard get to that conference tournament, and especially to win it. Do you feel like a lot of that's come back to anything specific you've done at practices?
Austin: Well, I think it's, yeah. I don't think it's any one thing. I mean, I think that it's more of a ... It's really hard. You can't skip steps and the process and the journey. And our program over the years has slowly, positions itself every year. And we went through a hardship about three years ago. We actually, we had a three-point lead with two seconds to go. And if we win that game and the championship, we would have gone to the NCAA tournament then. And ultimately, the other team had a buzzer-beater and we lost in overtime. And so, to be that close to doing that and then have that taken away was a really, really hard moment, I think.
It was neat, one of my seniors was a, I think she was a freshman at the time, but she got to experience the lowest of lows and then come all the way back and experience the highest of highs. And I think dealing with adversity and what that looks like was probably a big proponent of us being able to have the success we did this year.
Austin Parkinson’s Favorite Travel Experiences
Morgan: It's true. I've noticed sports teach you so much about real life and how to keep pushing through adversity, so I love that you brought that up. What are some of your most memorable travel experiences that you've had?
Austin: Some of my most memorable travel experiences. So I've had a unique opportunity to travel quite a bit. When I was younger, I lived overseas and my dad took a job in England, and we knew it was going to be about a two-year assignment. And so, I lived in England, I got to travel to almost 18, 19 different countries, had a chance to go to Germany, Italy. I've seen the Louvre in France. I've seen the statue of David. I've been anywhere and everywhere.
And then, the last year or so, I got to take my wife and my little, she's three now, she was two at the time, we got to go to England on an 11-day trip and got to go. And one of the coolest things we got to do is we got to go in Buckingham Palace. There's about four weeks out of the year that the Queen isn't there and they open it up to be able to go in there. And so, we got to go in and something I didn't get to do when I was there last time around.
But, a quick, funny story is my little girl, we get to this main room and you'd recognize it on TV. It's a room they host big banquets and it's a room that when you're on the tour, they let you sit down and take it in. Well, I've got a little girl and we get in there and there's a real strong echo. And she starts singing at the top of her lungs, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. And so, I quickly chaperoned her out of that area to not disrupt anybody. But we got to do that. My wife loved the Cotswolds. We got to go experience the countryside of that, something that she really appreciated while we were there.
Morgan: That sounds like a dream. I'm glad your daughter was able to experience that.
Austin: Yeah, it was awesome. I mean, like I said, the weather was incredible and it was neat to see my wife, who really appreciates art and history and those types of things. I'd seen all these things before, so it was neat to be able to see her appreciate it and get to experience it.
Morgan: I love that. So would you say that's been one of your favorite places to travel?
Austin: Yeah, absolutely. London is my absolute favorite place. We took a trip a few years ago to Hawaii, but on the way over, we stopped in San Francisco. And, as far as some of the places I've been in the states, San Francisco, I thought, was one of the coolest cities to be able to navigate and check out the different areas. There's a lot of historical stuff, but there's also some fun places to go and tour as well.
A Lesser-Known Fact About Coach Austin Parkinson
Morgan: Wow. That's so awesome. I love how much you love to travel and how you've been so many places because a lot of people don't have opportunities like that. So that's awesome. What is one thing that no one knows about you that you can share?
Austin: Let's see. Probably two things from my travel. One was when we were younger, we took the trip to Israel and got a chance to go to Jerusalem. But the day we were there, we took a tour bus, and I was obviously very little at the time, but they had to ... When you're older and you look back, you think, wow, that was crazy, but at that moment, your parents are looking after you. But one, we had to take a different route, so whatever bus route we took, we had to take a completely different route because there was a terrorist bomb that'd gone off in Tel Aviv that particular day. So we had to take a completely different route.
And then the other thing I remember is we were coming out of the Wailing Wall, which is a really sacred place. And we were exiting the Wailing Wall, and this was back when tensions were pretty high over there, and there was a, I don't know if it was a police officer or a military person that had been assaulted, stabbed. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but what I do remember, being a kid and not having lived overseas and being in a foreign spot, is I remember CNN cameras, there were CNN. CNN was familiar to me, all right? Remembered that from the United States.
And so, I just remember our parents, obviously, the tour group we were with just shuttled us off to the bus. And I was pretty young at the time, so I don't remember much else, but I do remember CNN. So amongst all that craziness, the CNN cameras were something that I was like, whoa, that's familiar and in the midst of chaos.
Morgan: Wow. Wow. It sounds like you've been through a lot though. I can only imagine, from going so many places, you've probably seen so much.
Austin: Well, I mean, yeah. I mean, clearly, that's a dramatic story just because from a childhood standpoint. We weren't in any danger by any stretch of the imagination, but there were some things that had gone on. I mean, but the other part about it was getting to see where Jesus was born in Jerusalem, and all those things were incredibly powerful. But at the same time, we were coming from Cypress, which was an incredibly beautiful island. So traveling's something I'm really grateful, when my parents allowed us to be able to do throughout our childhood.
Morgan: No, I love that. I've gotten to travel a little bit because of my dad's job too, and I just, I think there's so much you can learn from other people in different cultures. So I think that's awesome.
Austin: Well, one of my other favorite stories is more from my mom's standpoint. But one of our big shows that we like to watch, my wife and I, is The Crown, and we watch The Crown all the time on TV on Netflix. And my wife, we lived in Southport, England ... I mean, my mom, we lived in Southport, England when Charles had his affair with Camilla. Diana went into hiding for, I'm not sure what the time period was.
But one of her first public appearances back in the public eye was in our hometown and they lined the streets. And my mom actually has pictures where she got to shake hands with Princess Diana. She got about two or three people past my mom and she started to break down in tears and they whisked her off, and she went. But such a crazy thing that we actually have pictures. My mom got to shake hands or meet Princess Diana.
Morgan: Oh my goodness. Wow. Okay, that is a cool experience. I'm glad you guys got a photo of that, because that is going to be a memory forever.
Coach Austin Parkinson’s Advice To Future Athletes
Morgan: If you're an athlete that's wanting to play for a team or university, what would your advice be to that person?
Austin: Well, obviously I think there are certain things that pertain specifically to an individual sport, but I would say the kids that love what they do and are passionate about what they do, and you hear the term hard work. But I think more, what are you willing to sacrifice with that hard work? Because there's going to be sacrifice involved if you want to reach the level that you want to reach as an athlete.
And the other part about it is, and there's a few individual sports, but I'll talk specifically for basketball, I think you have to be completely for the team. And I just had a conversation with one of my coaches the other day of kids that we're looking for is, we want kids that are going to play hard. We want kids that want to be in the gym. Probably one of the biggest, I wouldn't call it a secret to success, but probably one of the most obvious things for us is, we've brought kids in that love playing basketball. And when practice is over, they want more of it. And that's not always the case.
And then the last part is being completely for the team. That's hard to do. I mean, being completely for the team, one of my favorite memories from this year is watching the film after the game, the championship, seeing some of our players on the sidelines pulling so hard for the kids that were out on the floor. And being completely for the team, not being somebody that's worried about their playing time or worried about their stats, but being completely bought in. And when you have that, that's why I think team sports are the best sports. Individuals, you're responsible for yourself, but the team, when you hit that note of everybody being in sync, it takes things to another level.
Morgan: Wow. No, and it's true. I love hearing what coaches would give as advice to players, because it shows what's important. And so, you mentioned something that I was curious about. You mentioned that they'd have those traits to work as a team player. Have you noticed that those traits translate into real life and school, those kinds of things?
Austin: Yeah. I think that those people, for our program, we've been in the top 25 academically the last two years. And a lot of those are those same kids that I mentioned. But you do see the translation more into the real world, when kids that are willing to sacrifice and be completely for the team are the same kids that adapt when they're thrown into the real world and face adversity and face difficult circumstances at the same time. Those kids that constantly have excuses, constantly ... One of the things I think that's different when I played, if there were issues, like my parents, you went to college, that's on you. You got to figure it out. And when I have a job issue or any, my parents can't help me out.
And now, you see some of these kids that, their parents want to solve all their problems for them in school. And part of being in college and part of being a college basketball player is being able to figure it out and being completely for the team. And some of those kids that struggle with that are the same ones that struggle on jobs and struggle interacting with people.
And we've been really blessed. This team that we have, every single member of this team was bought into what we were doing. And I look at these kids, I'm like, man, these kids are going to go, in whatever profession they go into, I know they're going to be successful because they have the right mindset.
Morgan: Oh, no, that means the most and I think that shows why your team did so well, because of that team player mindset. So thank you so much for sharing that. That's helpful to athletes wanting to play, so thank you.
Austin: Yeah.
Austin Parkinson’s Next Adventure
Morgan: Yeah. And I guess, what's your next adventure, Austin?
Austin: Well, the next adventure is, who knows? It's probably trying to keep active while we're inside here for the next, however long this is. I mean, I think getting back to the basketball side of things, this year we were able to do things that'd never been done before. We have pretty much our entire team back. So next year, what does that like, now being probably the favorite? Do you come back with the same level of hunger? Do you still buy into the one practice, one day at a time mentality? It's a different starting point, but do you still focus on those things? And so, I think we have a really, really good challenge to be able to do that and see how we handle the expectations of maybe being in front instead of being somebody that's picked two or three notches behind.
Morgan: Yes. No, I totally agree with that. And I'm excited to see where your team goes, because this hard work, it's going to keep paying off, just like it has this past season.
Austin: Well, I mean, you hope so. That's like we said, we can't really control the results. Who knows what will happen, but we can control how we show up every day, how we have our attitude, and the way that we go about our business.
IUPUI Women’s Basketball
Podcast made in partnership with Acanela Expeditions
Theme Song - I’ll Just Be Me by Gravity Castle