Former Rattler state champion teaches current athletes about life after athletics

SMHS ATHLETICS

Winning two state championships in the High Jump for San Marcos before signing to play at Baylor and later competing for the USA Track and Field team and FIBA basketball internationally, Allex Austin is now giving back to San Marcos and teaching high school athletes one of the most important lessons to learn. Life after athletics.

Austin hosted the Athletic Symposium in conjunction with Altitude Performance that teaches high school athletes how to handle both their athletic and academic careers after high school.

“I’ve been doing campus events for three years after I was done playing basketball in Africa for FIBA,” Austin said. “I moved to California and that’s where it started. Right before signing my next contract to go to the Philippines, I came to San Marcos just to be here with my family. While I was here [I thought], ‘Man I need to bring what I’m doing in California to San Marcos.’ That’s when it started.”

When an injury ended his athletic career, Austin sunk into a depression not knowing what the next step was. Austin eventually found his calling after athletics, and now is teaching the current generation of San Marcos athletes on how to handle the transition away from athletics.

“My life changed because I thought I was going to be a professional and have a smooth process through it all, [while] being the best,” Austin said. “That injury changed it all. Having to overcome and persevere is the biggest takeaway I can teach to this next generation of high school athletes.”

Like Austin, life after athletics – no matter high school, college or professional – can be a difficult transition for many who dedicate themselves to performing to the highest level.

Knowing the personal struggles he went through, Austin wants his Athletic Symposium to help future athletes with the challenges he faced.

“That is the most critical message to bring for these kids,” Austin said. “[When my] injury happened, I lost everything, and it started affecting everything I did in my life. If we can provide that insight to kids and have them avoid those moments where they are not struggling with self identity or what they are going to do. That is the most important thing for sure.

“Depression and mental health are real things. Those areas can’t be overlooked with hard work. It takes time to really sit with those bad thoughts and overcome them before you can commit yourself to doing anything else.”

Having graduated from San Marcos High School, Austin saw the symposium as a chance to give back to his community.

“We are in San Marcos, and you can be the next person hosting these panels, giving back to the community,” Austin said. “You can go out there and achieve your goals. No matter if it is connected to sports, academics, whatever it may be. We are from San Marcos, and we can do it. Just because I had a different upbringing than those, all it takes is the mindset, a hard work ethic and perseverance to believe in yourself. Just making sure these kids know that for themselves.”

While helping athletes, Austin also wants to bridge the gap between his high school and Texas State with many current Bobcat athletes and professors speaking at the event.

“It is so important to stay connected with Texas State,” Austin said. “The university is in our backyard in San Marcos, so bridging that gap between SMCISD and Texas State is a huge goal of mine. We have the opportunities at the early college high school that kids can come to this campus. We want to make it familiar with our community.”

One of the reasons for bridging that gap between San Marcos and Texas State for Austin is wanting current Rattler students to know the university will always be there in their time of need.

“Texas State needs to be a second home for them in academics,” Austin said. “We need to make sure that kids realize that ‘Hey worst comes to worst, I have the best university in my backyard that I can attend.’ Having these athletes, the staff, professors, athletic director here and being a part of this, it’s so important for them to connect with the community, and it’s not all for show. It’s a genuine connection and relationship we have with them.

“Texas State is the staple university in San Marcos. With these kids being first-generation college graduates or having the opportunity to do that, [it’s about] putting them in the mindset of ‘Hey this is your home’ and you can do it.’” Austin also wanted students to understand the importance of getting a college education and how using your athletic career is a good foundation that can open different doors to many career paths.

“Academics is so important,” Austin said. “We are students prior to student athletes. What we do in the classroom affects what we do on the field. Making sure we hold these kids to high academic standards is number one. We want to use sports as our foundation. We want to build everything else on a strong foundation to open the opportunities to be successful in other career aspects.”

Knowing from his personal experience, Austin is elated to help students understand the importance of academics after seeing it from a different perspective.

“It is a blessing to come back, and it’s emotional to come back to these things,” Austin said. “I know how I was in high school. I wasn’t the best kid ever, and I was so focused on sports. I let a lot of that get to my head. Being able to have a different perspective where I can come back and assisting the teachers and staff that assisted me to help with the next generation and helping kids understand that this is bigger than sports. The people that are here care.”