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

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player.

College career

Austin played 3 seasons at Mississippi State under head coach

Rick Stansbury Richard Lee Stansbury (born December 23, 1959), is an American college basketball and the current head coach of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball team. He was previously the head coach at Mississippi State. He was hired as the WKU hea ...

. 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 Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

. 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 The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

at the season, choosing not to return to Mississippi State for his senior year.

Professional career

After being drafted 36th overall in the

2003 NBA draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

by the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

, Austin left to play overseas, starting his professional career with

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

, 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. Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club ( he, מועדון כדורסל הפועל ירושלים), known for sponsorship reasons as Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (הפועל בנק יהב ירושלים‎), is a professional basketball club based in Je ...

who got sponsored by billionaire

Arkadi Gaydamak Arkadi ( el, Αρκάδι) is a former municipality in the Rethymno regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rethymno, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of . P ...

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 and later, he signed with Benetton Treviso. On July 18, 2008, Austin signed with

Beşiktaş Cola Turka Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

. At the start of the 2009–10 season, Austin was signed by Meridiano Alicante, but was released on January 21, 2010. On April 10, 2010, Austin was signed by the Atléticos de San Germán of the Puerto Rican league but was waived the next month. On August 13, 2010, Austin signed with Ukrainian club

BC Dnipro Basketball Club Dnipro ( uk, баскетбольний клуб "Дніпро"), commonly known as simply Dnipro, is a Ukrainian professional basketball club that is based in Dnipro. The home court of the club is Palace of Sports Shynnik. The wome ...

. On April 2, 2011, the Bulls traded his draft rights to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference, Northwest Division. Since the 1991–92 season, ...

as part of the

Carlos Boozer Carlos Austin Boozer Jr. (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. The two-time NBA All-Star played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers, and then spent his last season ...

sign-and-trade. On October 31, 2011, Austin signed with

BC Kyiv BC Kyiv ( uk, БК "Київ") was a Ukrainian professional basketball club based in Kyiv. The club's home court for Ukrainian domestic league matches was the Meridian Sports Complex, which has a seating capacity of 1,500. Large attendance games a ...

. On November 3, 2012 Austin signed with Al Kuwait. On November 9, 2013, he signed with Kuwaiti club Kazma. On February 3, 2015, Austin signed with

KB Peja Klubi i Basketbollit Peja (English: ''Basketball Club Peja'') is a Kosovar professional basketball club based in Pejë. The club currently plays in the Kosovo Basketball Superleague. KB Peja has won 6 National Championships, 4 Kosovo Basketball Cu ...

of the Siguria Superleague and on October 9, Austin signed with Deportivo Valdivia of the

Liga Nacional de Básquetbol de Chile The Liga Nacional de Básquetbol de Chile, also known as the LNB Chile, is the top national basketball leagues in Chile, it is a professional league, organized by the Federación de Básquetbol de Chile. The league was created in 2010 and the old ...

(LNB). On November 14, he was waived by Deportivo Valdivia. 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

External links