Lindenwood Magazine - Spring 2023

20 21 SPRING 2023 EDITION THE LINDENWOOD THE LINDENWOOD SPRING 2023 EDITION Alumni THE ALUMNI COMMUNITY THE ALUMNI COMMUNITY EXCELLENCE IN BROADCASTING Earl Austin Jr. bleeds black and gold. And those colors run in his family. A staple in the St. Louis media and a 1986 Lindenwood University alumnus, Austin Jr. was the first of his family to attend the St. Charles campus, where he studied mass communications and played on the men’s basketball team for four years. His sister, Courtney Thompson, was one of the top scorers and rebounders in Lindenwood women’s basketball history. A four-year starter from 1986–90, Thompson was inducted into the Lindenwood Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. His brother, Richard Austin, played both basketball and baseball for the Lions. “It’s been connected to our family for generations now,” Austin Jr. said. For nearly the last 30 years, Austin Jr. has served as the sports editor of the St. Louis American newspaper. He’s been the color commentator for Saint Louis University men’s basketball broadcasts for the last 32 seasons. He also was part of the Lindenwood men’s basketball broadcast team for six games during the 2022–23 season. “That was something I always wanted to do was be a color commentator for college basketball,” he said. When Austin Jr. attended Lindenwood in 1986, the student population was a mere 1,700. Today, it’s 7,000 between undergrad and graduate students. “It’s great seeing the campus grow, seeing the school grow,” Austin Jr. said. “We were a small campus, but now seeing it have three dozen different sports and to see it have football and to see it grow to a Division II was thing and now to make that ultimate leap to a Division I program, it gives me goosebumps. It’s amazing to see.” Speaking of D-I, Austin Jr. never imagined his alma mater would make that kind of transition in such a short amount of time. During his years at Lindenwood, the University didn’t have a football team. Men’s and women’s basketball, along with men’s and women’s soccer were considered the top sports. Baseball and softball were club sports at the time. “We really didn’t have much else,” he said. “I remember when, about three or four years later, we added football. And it was like, ‘Wow!” That was a major step. And now we have all these other different sports—track and field, field hockey, hockey, volleyball. So, to be Division I now and being able to compete in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for basketball, seeing that and to see other programs really do well and obviously the cheer and the dance team becoming … a national power. They’re on TV all the time. You see athletes be in the NFL and the Olympics and do some great things at the professional level is fantastic to see.” From the broadcast booth to the byline above each article he writes, Austin Jr. always remembers his roots. He built his foundation at Lindenwood, where, like many other media talents, a noteworthy career was born. “It really means a lot, especially when you look at our field of communications with the experience we’ve been able to have while at Lindenwood. You look at what we call it, broadcasting especially, we call it the ‘Broadcasting Dynasty’ with the people that have come out of (Lindenwood). Myself and Bob Ramsey, we’re the Saint Louis University Billikens broadcast team. Dan McLaughlin was the Cardinals play-by-play broadcaster for 25 years. We’ve got Greg Amsinger, who’s the lead broadcaster for MLB Network. Randy Karraker has been a talk show institution in radio sports talk in St. Louis for many years, and we were in school about the same time. Scott Warmann, you see him on TV all the time. The list goes on and on and that experience that we got the chance to do as part of the communications department at Lindenwood really carries into our community as well.” EARL AUSTIN JR We were a small campus, but now seeing it have three dozen different sports and to see it have football and to see it grow to a Division II was thing and now to make that ultimate leap to a Division I program, it gives me goosebumps. It’s amazing to see. EARL AUSTIN JR It really means a lot, especially when you look at our field of communications with the experience we’ve been able to have while at Lindenwood. You look at what we call it, broadcasting especially, we call it the “ ‘Broadcasting Dynasty’ with the people that have come out of (Lindenwood).